ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Maddy Harradence, Phyo Sandar Soe, ANMF (Vic Branch) Acting Assisstant Secretary Alana Ginnivan and APHEDA Myanmar Campaign Manager Ko Saulsman. Photo: Natalie Pestana
In early September, ANMF staff and members who attended the Women’s Rights at Work Conference at Victorian Trades Hall heard from a remarkable woman, Phyo Sandar Soe, about her and her colleagues’ fight – not just for their rights at work but for their human rights.
Soe is a proud Burmese activist and unionist, whose work helped establish a minimum wage in Myanmar. She was forced into exile in 2022, however, when the military junta trained its scopes on her; their charge of treason carries a life sentence. From her current sanctuary in New Zealand, Soe continues her work to restore peace, democracy and health and human rights in Myanmar.
Soe’s key aim in visiting Australia was to advocate for solidarity. Along with Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA Myanmar Campaign Manager Ko Saulsman, she stopped by the ANMF (Vic Branch) office to ask Victorian nurses, midwives and personal carers to call on the Australian government to increase sanctions against Myanmar and to reject the election that the junta has scheduled for 28 December 2025, which many international observers have called a sham designed to legitimise an illegal dictatorship.
What is the situation in Myanmar, and why should nurses and midwives care?
Ko Saulsman told us that the military staged a brutal coup in February 2021, violently overthrowing Myanmar’s democratically elected government and dragging the nation into an increasingly bloody civil war.
The junta has killed thousands of pro-democracy activists and has murdered 29 MPs, he explained. Almost four million people have been internally displaced, and 30,000 have been arrested. More than 400 unionists are in prison, where they are tortured or face the death penalty; several imprisoned unionists have been executed.
Soe shared that in response, public sector workers – including many healthcare workers – started a non-violent civil disobedience movement, with hundreds of thousands participating in general strikes for example. More than 70 per cent of the country is currently controlled by democratic resistance groups.
The junta has retaliated by arresting protestors, firing on homes and bombing civilians, schools and hospitals.
‘They are targeting civilians because civilians are supporting the movement,’ Soe said.
She told ANMF that healthcare workers do their best to continue providing care, with makeshift mobile hospitals being set up under bridges and in bomb shelters, many with donated supplies and medical equipment from Australia and New Zealand.
Often, however, the nurses, midwives and other healthcare workers in these facilities are required to work well outside their scope of practice, and lack the knowledge and experience to do what they have to do. ‘Sometimes they’ll be taking instructions on their phone while operating,’ Soe said.
Many of these clinics were receiving much of their operational funding from United States overseas aid agencies but with Trump’s cuts to foreign aid they now face closure.
‘I am so proud of our healthcare worker brothers and sisters,’ Soe said. ‘They are on the frontline, providing these services, and at the same time they are fighting for democracy. But they need your solidarity.’
Soe is working with international unions such as Public Services International and the International Labour Organisation, as well as with Australia’s Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA, who are providing support where they can. ‘I am optimistic that with global solidarity and support, Myanmar’s workers and civilians will win,’ she concluded.
