CIVICUS speaks to the Business and Human Rights Center (BHRC) about labor rights violations in Myanmar’s garment industry since the 2021 military coup.
Myanmar’s garment sector, which employs hundreds of thousands of workers, is in deep crisis. Since the coup, labor protections have collapsed, independent unions have been dismantled and workers who try to organize face intimidation, dismissal and arrest. In factories, reports show multiple cases of child labor, forced overtime, intimidation, poor wages and unsafe conditions. At the same time, rising costs of living and U.S. tariffs are pushing many workers into further uncertainty as factories close and layoffs become more common. Garment workers, the majority of whom are women, are caught between exploitation, repression and a rapidly shrinking industry.
How have conditions in Myanmar’s garment factories changed since the coup?
Our monitoring between February 2021 and October 2024 shows a sharp increase in both the number and severity of pre-existing labor rights violations. Since the coup, factory employers have increasingly collaborated with the military to limit organizing and silence workers. This collaboration has led to: threats, arrests And violent attacks against workers. In one case, security forces took action joint military and police raids on the homes of workers demanding unpaid wages and restrictions on overtime.
Factories have also increased surveillance. Workers report invasive searches, confiscation of telephones and installation of CCTV in factories, including near toilets. Employers also force employees to do this lying during audits. These practices are intended to conceal abuses and have exacerbated abuses that employees were already facing.
What abuses do garment workers suffer in the workplace?
Factories force workers to meet extreme production targets through excessive production and output targets often unpaid overtime. Many employees have to do that stay overnight until dawn, often without adequate food, water or ventilation, leading to exhaustion and health problems. Managers threaten and abuse employees who refuse to work overtime or do not meet targets. We have documented a case where regulators refused Food and water for employees as punishment for not meeting targets.
Health and safety conditions have deteriorated. Workers report dirty, insufficient toilets, poor food quality And unsafe drinking water. They have also reported blocked emergency exits, insufficient ventilation And leaking roofs that endangered lives. Factory-provided transportation poses even more dangers, as is often the case overcrowded and I often suffer from it traffic accidents. In one case a big crash The deployment of an employee shuttle seriously injured several employees, including one who required abdominal surgery.
Female workers face particularly serious abuses, including pulling hair, physical attack, sexual harassment And verbal attacks. In one case, supervisors hit, kicked and phoned female employees ‘dogs’.
What happens to employees who try to speak out or organize?
Employees who dare to speak out face brutal reprisals. After the army declared 16 Trade unions and labor rights organizations are illegal, arrests, home raids and surveillance are increasing, especially against trade union leaders and activists linked to the Civil Disobedience Movement. The movement began after the coup and brings together workers who refuse to cooperate with military rule through strikes and other forms of nonviolent resistance.
Inside factories, employers to threaten And reject union leaders on false grounds. In one case a factory was reopened and refused to relocate union members and publicly humiliated them. Employers have done that too made Workplace coordination committees to replace independent trade unions, to deny employees the right to choose their representatives and to silence their complaints. Prominent union leaders such as Myo Myo Aye have been arrested several times just to continue organizing.
What should international brands do in this context?
Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rightsbrands operating in conflict situations must conduct heightened, conflict-sensitive due diligence and demonstrate, with independent and verifiable evidence, that it works. In the current context of Myanmar, where surveillance and violent repression run throughout the supply chain, this standard is exceptionally difficult to achieve.
Any brand that remains must deliver clear and demonstrable improvements in working conditions. Brands that cannot meet this threshold should conduct a responsible exit, work with workers and their representatives, and take steps to reduce harm, rather than increasing the instability that garment workers already face under military rule.
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© Inter Press Service (20260128055149) — All rights reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service
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