27 March, 2025Trade unions in Belgium are calling on Sioen, who manufactures military uniforms, to immediately stop production in Myanmar, given the serious human and labour rights violations under the country’s military regime.
Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar has been ruled by a brutal junta responsible for widespread repression, mass displacement and the suppression of independent unions and with it workers’ rights. Despite ample evidence of the ongoing violations, Sioen has continued to produce uniforms for the Belgian army in a Yangon factory, under martial law in Myanmar.
Unions say Sioen’s industrial activities in Myanmar not only legitimizes the military dictatorship but indirectly finances its violent rule. “It is unacceptable for Belgian taxpayers’ money to support a regime that murders civilians and persecutes workers,” the FGTB, CSC and CGSLB unions, all IndustriALL affiliates, said in a statement.
In 2021, IndustriALL launched a global campaign urging all garment brands to exit Myanmar. Many major companies, including H&M, Inditex, Lidl and C&A, have since pulled out. Sioen, however, has refused repeated union appeals to follow suit.
At a recent meeting with Sioen CEO Bart Vervaeke and managing director Michèle Sioen, Belgian union leaders reiterated their demand for the company to suspend operations in Myanmar until democracy and labour rights are restored. They proposed relocating production to other Sioen facilities in Tunisia or Indonesia and offering temporary compensation to workers in Yangon.
The unions have a message for the Belgian defence minister Theo Francken, warning him that the government’s proposed €4.5 billion defence budget increase must not be used to support exploitative overseas labour or oppressive regimes. They are urging stricter human rights clauses in public procurement and mandatory respect for human rights along the supply chains.
“The government says this spending is about strengthening Belgian industry. Then let it truly benefit Belgian workers – not come at the cost of others’ suffering,”
the unions said.
“IndustriALL’s call for a responsible exit from Myanmar will not change until companies pull manufacturing from the country. Faced with the overwhelming evidence of human and labour rights’ violations, some of the biggest brands have left. The ones who maintain production in Myanmar clearly put profits over human lives,”
says Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary.