The European Union is preparing to impose a new tranche of sanctions against Myanmar’s democracy-suspending, coup-installed military regime.
More than 2,000 civilians have been killed by junta forces, 14,000 have been arrested and more than 7,00,000 displaced. However there is a feeling sanctions would mainly impact already vulnerable female workers in the country’s export-oriented garment sector – and not meaningfully hit the military junta’s revenue streams.
Many garment sector jobs have already been lost because of Covid and the coup. There are supposed to be around 5,00,000 workers in Myanmar’s manufacturing sector. Currently, trade unions are banned and 301 union leaders have been arrested and 55 killed.
The EU reinstated Myanmar into its privileged trade scheme in 2013 during the quasi-democratic government. The Everything But Arms (EBA) trade scheme grants some of Myanmar’s export goods tariff- and quota-free entry to European markets.
In 2016, in response to the country’s democratic progress, the US restored much of Myanmar’s trade benefits that had been suspended for chronic abuses under direct military rule.With greater access to western markets, Myanmar’s garment exports increased five-fold from 2012 to 2019. In 2019, they were a third of Myanmar’s total export value that year. The EU was the largest purchaser of Myanmar-made apparel before Covid.
