Myanmar Junta Urges Locals to Stay as Workers Flee Abroad

RFA

Myanmar’s junta chief has called on workers to remain in the country and seek domestic employment, citing a labour shortage—despite widespread economic collapse, unsafe working conditions, and a continued exodus of job seekers since the 2021 military coup.

Speaking in a Labour Day address, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing urged citizens to avoid migrating abroad and instead take up jobs at home, which he claimed would offer a “safer and more secure” environment. The junta’s labour ministry, he added, would host job fairs to connect employers with prospective workers.

But his remarks ring hollow for many. Since seizing power, the junta has overseen a dramatic decline in job opportunities, harsh crackdowns on trade unions, and rising poverty. Foreign investment has dried up, and wages remain dismally low. Conscription, forced labour, and increasing state surveillance have pushed millions to seek work in neighbouring countries—especially Thailand—often undocumented, to avoid persecution.

The junta has responded with heavy-handed policies, including mandatory remittance of earnings from abroad, steep taxes, and attempts to repatriate workers, further fuelling resentment.

Labour rights advocates say the regime’s message ignores the root causes of the crisis. “The military is turning the country into a place of slavery,” said Phyo Sandar Soe, assistant secretary general of the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar. “Myanmar workers are left with no protection at all.”

Workers on the ground echo her concerns. Shwe Zin, employed in a Yangon garment factory, said employees are routinely threatened for exercising basic rights. “We don’t have legal protections. Pregnant workers get fired. We’re forced to work overtime—or else.”

The junta’s Labour Day message came just as it allowed a post-earthquake ceasefire to lapse quietly, without explanation. The truce, 

announced after the deadly 28 March quake that killed nearly 3,800, had been intended to support relief efforts—but was reportedly flouted by the military throughout, with continued air and artillery strikes.

With the economy in freefall, repression intensifying, and humanitarian needs rising, many Myanmar citizens see little future at home—no matter what the generals say.

-2025-05-02