Workers in Myanmar’s garment sector are badly treated.

So says the Business and Human Rights Resource Center. Big fashion brands, says the group, have failed to protect workers in their supply chains from widespread labour rights abuses. These abuses range from inhuman working conditions and wage theft to the use of violence, arbitrary arrest and killings. The most common allegations of abuse are reduced wages and wage theftfollowed by unfair dismissal. The picture includes pathetic work rates, forced overtime accounts, gender-based violence and harassment, denial of leave, unsafe working conditions and arbitrary arrests and detention. Apparel brands sourcing from the country are continuing to show a concerning lack of action in ensuring respect for the rights of workers who make their clothes.

In many instances, factory owners are the perpetrators of this abuse. Fashion brands sourcing from these factories have in turn failed to conduct adequate human rights due diligence in the country as they often have to rely on factory owners or a third party to investigate conditions for workers on the ground. The Business and Human Rights Resource Center is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts (positive and negative) of more than 10,000 companies across nearly 200 countries.