Burma Campaign UK Urges Cotton Traders to Stop Trade

By SAW YAN NAING

The London-based Burma Campaign UK has urged Cotton Traders—a British clothing company—to stop selling clothes made in Burma, saying clothing exports are a vital source of income that helps to keep the Burmese military government in power.

The latest campaign came after Burma Campaign UK supporters found two clothing items in the Cotton Traders 2008 catalogue with labels stating “Made in Myanmar,” according to the Burma Campaign UK.

Johnny Chatterton, a campaign officer, said, “Companies sourcing clothes from Burma are helping to fund a dictatorship that uses rape, torture and murder to oppress its own people.”

“Customers of Cotton Traders will be shocked to hear they are involved with this brutal dictatorship,” he said.

Chatterton said he did not know whether Cotton Traders actually has investments in Burma but said that two items of clothing—a trouser and a shirt—appeared to have been manufactured in Burma.

The group launched a boycott campaign on Wednesday against Cotton Traders, according to a statement.

In other Burma news, Zoya Phan, the international coordinator for Burma Campaign UK, is in Hungary to lobby the government to support stronger European Union sanctions on Burma, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Myint Soe, the chairman of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, said Burma's vital garment industry could suffer factory closures and layoffs because orders are sharply down following the global financial crisis, according to an Associated Press report.

Myint Soe was quoted as saying, "Since the financial crisis, orders for new consignments have been reduced, and we will see a serious impact by the middle of December.”

He said the garment industry suffered a setback early this year when South Africa's biggest clothing retailer canceled orders, citing the Burmese military crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in September last year.

That drop off led to the closure of about 35 factories in Burma, he said. About 100 garment factories remain, employing 80,000 to 100,000 workers, compared to more than 270 factories before 2003.

According to official statistics, Burma earned US $282 million from garment exports in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

Many EU countries have imposed economic sanctions on Burma in recent years to urge it to move toward a more democratic government and to protect human rights. The US imposed bans on imports of clothing from Burma starting in 2003.

In late September at the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Burma’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win urged the international community to lift "unjustified" economic sanctions that hurt the development and progress of the country.

He said that unilateral economic sanctions are unwarranted and against international law. The sanctions are not only unfair but also immoral, he said, claiming sanctions are holding back Burma’s contribution to the international community.