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Myanmar: Thousands of workers fleeing to an uncertain future
The tyranny of the military threatens the once thriving clothing sector and more than half a million jobs.
The brutality with which the military rulers in Myanmar take action against their own people dominates the headlines worldwide and has led to countless condemnations by the UN, EU, USA and other countries and international organizations.
According to the AAPP, more than 570 people have been killed and more than 2,700 detained or tortured by early April. Other sources speak of an even higher number of deaths.
Since the beginning of civil disobedience, union leaders and workers, including those from the textile sector, have been at the forefront, refusing to cooperate with the illegal military government. The protesters have successfully stopped train traffic nationwide, interrupted mining, stopped working in countless factories (many of which are linked to the military), and thus brought goods traffic to a halt. Foreign companies such as H&M are also suspending their orders – too uncertain and unpredictable, according to a company spokesman, is the political situation.
Overall, international fashion companies do not behave in solidarity and remain silent, despite or precisely because of their economic links with production companies, which are often owned by members of the military. As the network Remake reports, workers and trade unions have in vain summoned international brands to stand up for their rights and to strike without being fired.
The Clean Clothes Campaign also condemns the silence of the clothing companies to the atrocities of the military and calls on the companies to take active steps to support the protesting workforce of their suppliers.
The coup has increased anger over numerous deprivations during the coronavirus crisis, as well as the associated fear of threat, oppression and other economic restrictions. A legitimate fear, as the consequences meanwhile show.
Yangon's industrial suburb of Hlaing Tharyar has become a center of escalation between the peaceful protest movement and Myanmar's brutal military regime. 60 workers were killed. The reports by Ma Khaing Zar, president of the largest trade union IMFM, the Industrial Worker’s Federation of Myanmar, are oppressive. ‘Soldiers shoot at protesting workers, storm their community shelters, check their mobile phones and arrest them for no reason’, the trade unionist describes the situation. Women would no longer return to their jobs due to fear of violence and arbitrariness and would thus unintentionally fall into unemployment.
The martial law now imposed on the industrial region has also led to an exodus. However, the return to the mostly rural home towns, where there is no employment, remains an emergency solution for the majority of workers. Because the way back to Yangon's factories, which are slowly starting up again, is not only blocked due to a lack of bus or train connections. Supporters and protesters are sometimes blacklisted and subjected to persecution, harassment, raids or worse.
“We are always the first to suffer when there is a crisis in the country”, says a desperate textile worker. Some of her friends are now willing to pay agents with their severance payments to help them find a job in neighbouring Thailand.
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