By Philip Heijmans
Officials wrapped up a four-day fact-finding mission to
Myanmar on Wednesday as the EU considers stepping up its response to the brutal
crackdown on the Rohingya, and ongoing conflicts elsewhere in the country.
AJ English
The European Union has threatened to impose trade sanctions
on Myanmar that could put thousands of jobs in its lucrative clothing industry
at risk, if the country does not address ‘severe shortcomings’ in human rights.
“Trade, done right, is a powerful force for good,” the EU
commissioner for trade, Cecilia Malmström, said in a statement at the end of
the visit.
The EU, the world’s biggest trading bloc, is considering
whether to add to existing travel bans and asset freezes on certain military
officers, by removing the tariff-free access to European markets that Myanmar
currently receives via the Everything But Arms (EBA) programme.
“We have worked to ensure that trade preferences and
access to the EU market are an incentive to promote fundamental human and
labour rights,” Malmström added. “We now expect Myanmar to address the severe
shortcomings that have been highlighted during this monitoring mission. If they
do not act, Myanmar authorities are putting their country’s tariff-free access
to the EU market in danger.”
The EU officials’ trip to Myanmar comes after UN
investigatorssaid that genocide against the Rohingya was “ongoing” and that as
many as 400,000 Rohingya still remaining in Myanmar live under severe
restrictions and repression.
Rohingya crisis: UN warns of ongoing genocide
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled across the border
to neighbouring Bangladesh last year amid a crackdown that a UN report said
warranted the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military leaders for war crimes,
crimes against humanity and genocide.
Myanmar has dismissed the UN investigation as biased and
politically-motivated. Earlier this week, it reached an agreement with
Bangladesh for the Rohingya to start returning home this month.
‘True story’
EU officials met ministers, trade unions, businesses,
civil society groups, and international rights organisations to discuss issues
including cooperation to investigate and prosecute individuals suspected of
having committed crimes against humanity, humanitarian access to conflict-hit
Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States as well as the conditions for the “voluntary,
safe and dignified return of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to their places of
origin.”
Aung Ko Ko, an independent economist who also sits on the
ruling National League for Democracy’s economic committee said he was confident
that the EU would not restrict access to its markets.
“Myanmar isn’t doing any harmful actions to EU members,”
he said. “It’s not doing any anti-EU activities. Myanmar has welcomed them to
see the true story.”
Government spokesman Zaw Htay could not be reached for
comment.
Some business associations say the EU’s withdrawal of
Myanmar’s trade privileges could force half the country’s 450,000 garment
workers to find new work, and leave factories facing the prospect of losing 47
percent of their entire export market.
The European Chambers of Commerce – an umbrella group of
six business associations – said it was “deeply concerned” at the prospect of
trade sanctions. The withdrawal of EBA would harm the livelihoods of
approximately half a million households affecting an estimated 2 million
people, it said.
$5bn industry
Under the EBA initiative, the world’s poorest nations can
sell anything but arms to the EU tariff-free. Myanmar, Europe’s sixth-largest
trading partner, has been part of the programme since 2012.
Earlier this month, the EU told Cambodia, whose garment
industry is worth about $5bn, it had started the process of withdrawing the
country’s access to the same program.
Myanmar’s preferential exports to the EU were valued at
$1.48bn in 2017, from $610m in 2015, with garments accounting for nearly three
quarters of exports, according to EU data. European retailers including H&M
and Inditex buy clothing from Myanmar.
The US has imposed targeted sanctions against military
commanders and army units as a result of the Rakhine crackdown and is said to
be considering more. Last week, Australia slapped sanctions on five generals it
said were responsible for human rights violations.