(GENEVA, June 5, 2025)—On June 5, 2025, the International Labour Conference, the governing body of the U.N.’s International Labour Organization (ILO), adopted a landmark resolution invoking Article 33 of the ILO Constitution against the Myanmar military regime. The resolution, adopted by consensus of all ILO constituent elements, is the strongest measure possible in the ILO system and urges ILO member states, companies, and unions worldwide to ensure that their actions do not enable the junta’s continued repression. This includes reviewing relations, investments, supply chains, and cooperation that may indirectly support the regime, as well as the supply of weapons, jet fuel, and financial flow to the military junta. The resolution also calls for the protection of exiled trade unionists, including by respect for the principle of non-refoulement. This is only the third time in the ILO’s history that Article 33 has been invoked.
On June 2, 2025, just ahead of the opening of the International Labour Conference, Fortify Rights issued a news release calling on the International Labour Conference to adopt an Article 33 resolution recommending the strongest possible measures against the junta.
Earlier, on January 14, 2025, Fortify Rights sent a letter to ILO Director-General Gilbert Huongbo recommending measures to be included in a resolution invoking Article 33 of the ILO Constitution. The measures Fortify Rights’s recommended included rejecting any efforts to regularize ties with the illegal Myanmar military regime, imposing sanctions on the junta’s leaders and military capabilities, and supporting exiled trade unionists, including through respect for the principle of non-refoulement.