A large number of underage workers have been found employed in the garment sector of Myanmar, which has emerged as a favourite destination among fashion brands because of workforce availability at low wages and favourable import and export tariffs. According to “The Myanmar Dilemma Report”, children as young as 14 work for as little as 13 pence an hour to produce apparel for well-known western brands against the legal minimum wage of 26 pence per hour.
Also Read – ‘H&M suppliers in Myanmar violating child labour laws’
Child labourers have been found working in factories engaged with manufacturing of clothes for fast-fashion retailers such as H&M, New Look, and Sports Direct’s Lonsdale label. However, laws in Myanmar permit children as young as 14 to work for up to 4 hours a day.
The report further highlights the misery of adult workers employed with garment industry in Myanmar. Around 400 workers working with 12 factories, most of them foreign-owned, were interviewed during the investigation report, which revealed a series of human rights and labour rights violation in these factories.
Extremely low wages, unlawful wage deduction, long working days, unpaid and forced overtime, abuse of apprentices to avoid paying the legal minimum wage, child labour, and unhealthy and unsafe working conditions have emerged as major issues of concern for garment industry workers.
The findings of the report showed that conditions for garment workers were “far from fair” and that employers were manipulating the weakness in the labour laws to violate the rights of workers.
Also Read – Myanmar garment industry is out with its 10-year Plan
It is pertinent to mention here that in 2014, Myanmar’s total export value of garments reached US $ 986 million, nearly tripling the value of the 2010 garment exports of US $ 337 million. According to the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA), garment exports totalled US $ 1.46 billion in 2015, accounting for 10 per cent of the country’s export revenues.
