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Myanmar workers often wait for weeks in Shan State’s Muse town to secure factory jobs across the border in China’s Yunnan province, where many go on to face exploitation and tough living and working conditions.
By FRONTIER
In October, Ko Pyae Phyo spent 13 days working in a garment factory in Yunnan province – an ordeal so intolerable he says he never again wants to hear the word “China”.
Pyae Phyo, 27, had travelled from his home in Yangon’s West Hlaing Tharyar Township to Muse in northern Shan State, right on the Chinese border. Once there, he found a broker who helped him land a job in a garment factory in neighbouring southern Yunnan, but he lasted less than two weeks before quitting and returning home.
Pyae Phyo was fortunate to leave so quickly, when many other Myanmar migrants are trapped in China by a form of debt bondage.
“The salary was low and the living and working conditions at the factory were unacceptable, so I decided to quit,” said Pyae Phyo, adding that he was one of seven Myanmar nationals who went to work at the factory under its debt system.
“Another worker and I managed to quickly repay all our debts and leave, but the other five are still working there. We trusted the broker, but when we arrived it was completely different to what he had promised us,” Pyae Phyo told Frontier.
Pyae Phyo said the broker had promised that they would receive a base salary of 2,200 yuan (US$304) a month, plus 8 yuan an hour for overtime, and that their working hours would be 8am to 6:30pm.
“However, the salary was only 1,200 yuan a month and overtime just 4 yuan an hour. We worked from 7:15am to 6:30pm, with an additional shift from 7:30pm to 9pm for overtime,” Pyae Phyo said.
“The overtime usually ended at 9:30pm, which meant we worked an extra 30 minutes for free. Sometimes, it was even extended to 10pm, but we still didn’t receive the full overtime pay,” he said, adding that most factories provided one day off a week at most.
Pyae Phyo said that when the workers contacted the broker to complain about broken wage promises, they were told that the broker’s only responsibility was recruitment. “They said everything else was up to the factory, leaving us with no options,” he said.
The factory provided accommodation and three meals a day, but he said neither was up to liveable standards.
“They put eight workers in one room and the food was unacceptable. Most of the time, we had to buy food from outside because the factory meals were inedible. There was hardly any meat, mostly just vegetables. They gave us an hour for lunch, but with about 1,000 workers in line, we ended up with only about 30 minutes to eat,” Pyae Phyo said.
Although there were hot and cold showers, the drinking and utility water were from the same source. “There were so many inconveniences, and the salary was so low, that I decided to return to Myanmar. I just couldn’t take it anymore,” he said.
Pyae Phyo said he had expected better conditions in China than at the garment factory in Yangon where he had worked for 14 years for a monthly salary of K900,000 (about $200 at the current market rate).
“China offered higher salaries, and all food and accommodation were provided. That’s why I assumed it would be better than working in Myanmar and decided to go to China. The salary I earned in Myanmar didn’t leave much after living expenses were deducted,” he said. “But now I don’t want to go back to China. I’m thinking of starting my own business.”
Bureaucratic hurdles
There’s no shortage of jobs in the garment and other factories on the Chinese side of the border. Factories in Ruili, the town opposite Muse known as Shweli in Burmese, and other Yunnan towns offer salaries ranging from 600 yuan to more than 2,000 yuan a month. However, finding work in China involves negotiating some bureaucratic hurdles.
Myanmar citizens are eligible for two kinds of border passes to enter China, depending on where they live. Myanmar nationals holding household registration papers from Muse District – which includes Muse, Kutkai and Namkham townships – are eligible for a red-coloured Border Pass, which is valid for one year.
Those from elsewhere in Myanmar are only entitled to receive a Temporary Border Pass, which allows them to remain in China for up to one week.
The TBP scheme was suspended in early 2020 when travel restrictions were imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the scheme was reintroduced in September last year, people from across Myanmar flocked to Muse in hopes of procuring TBPs to enter China and then finding long-term employment in the country, even though the passes are only meant for short-term visits. Demand has remained high ever since, as Myanmar faces worsening economic conditions as a result of the 2021 military coup and continuing civil war.
To apply for a TBP, workers must present a Citizenship Scrutiny Card, popularly known as a National Registration Card, as well as a Unique Identification Number. The latter refers to a “smart” document that was introduced last year, in the form of paper slips with a 10-digit number, personal information and a QR code. They are intended to eventually replace the CSC and boost the junta’s surveillance powers.
Once the workers are in China, the factories can arrange official work permits for them.
Obtaining a TBP can take weeks or even months. While applicants wait in Muse to receive the passes, brokers offer advances from factories to cover transport, food and accommodation costs. The money is then deducted from the migrants’ salaries after they start their jobs. This is an attractive option for job seekers who arrive at the border with limited means and is the main reason why most Myanmar migrants are already in debt when they start work at Chinese factories.
Ma May Thu, who travelled to Muse in September and expects to be waiting into December to receive her TBP, told Frontier that she plans to work at a garment factory in China under the debt system. The 24-year-old from Yangon’s Thanlyin Township, who asked that a pseudonym be used to protect her identity, says she is apprehensive about the future.
“The broker told me that my daily expenses in Muse would be K13,000, and the factory will deduct this amount from my salary. The broker said I’d earn 1,600 yuan a month. I’m worried about whether I’ll be okay, especially after hearing that some workers have had problems in China,” May Thu said, adding, “There are about 80 people here like me, waiting to get their TBP.”
May Thu said some job seekers leave Muse soon after arriving because they don’t want an extended wait for a TBP when there’s no guarantee of a job in China.
“Even those of us who have already been in contact with a factory through a broker can’t be sure about the job with just the TBP. A job is only certain when the factory hires us with an official employment letter,” she said.
Ma Sandar, who has worked at a garment factory in Yunnan since October, said her job was arranged by a broker using the debt system, and she must repay 3,400 yuan to her employer in six monthly instalments of 600 yuan.
This is manageable because she holds a leadership position on the factory floor, with a base salary of 2,000 yuan a month, but other migrants must spend much longer in debt bondage. “Some workers want to go back, but they have to endure their situation until they finish paying off their debt,” she said.
Pyae Phyo said he went to China under the debt system and had to pay 5,075 yuan to the factory.
“When we were in Muse, the factory told us through the broker that we would have to pay an extra 2,000 yuan if we wanted the job quickly. We thought we would earn more than 2,000 yuan a month, so we accepted the offer, thinking the amount was manageable. That’s why I ended up paying 5,075 yuan when I quit my job,” he said.
Tricked and surveilled
Pyae Phyo was fortunate to have enough cash on him when he arrived in Muse to pay off his debt quickly and return to Myanmar once he discovered that conditions in China differed from what was promised. Others are not so lucky. An official with a charity organisation in Muse said it often assists job seekers who come to the border town on their way to China.
“Some workers ask for help while waiting for their TBP cards because they’re struggling with food and accommodation in Muse. Others realise they’ve been tricked by brokers and seek aid,” the official said.
“Some ask for help to find a job, while others want to go back but don’t have enough money for transport. We try our best to help them, but in cases where they’ve been tricked by brokers, we can’t do much. We can only refer them to reliable brokers.”
Workers say brokers who recruit for Chinese factories receive a commission from the factory, as well as fees from workers that can range from K100,000 to K500,000.
“The broker fees are already covered by the factory, so the broker shouldn’t ask for more from the worker,” Pyae Phyo said.
“Taking extra broker fees, deceiving workers and failing to take responsibility for their own countrymen is unacceptable,” he added, before offering some advice to other job seekers: “Workers who want to go to China need to do thorough research, especially regarding brokers. I don’t want others to go through what I went through.”
Employers who recruit Myanmar workers are responsible for obtaining permission for them to live and work in China after they enter with a TBP, migrants say, adding that the employers work closely with police to arrange this. Workers must also hand over their ID cards to their bosses as a precaution against the workers running away before their debts are paid.
The workers are also closely monitored.
“At the factory where I worked there was a face-scanning machine. Every morning, before noon, we had to scan our faces. We would be fined 100 yuan if we didn’t,” said Pyae Phyo.
In most factories, workers can raise concerns about their jobs or living conditions with the factory’s owner or manager, the local industrial zone management committee, the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, or the police. Workers say the factories advise them about the procedures in advance, and provide telephone numbers in case workers need to contact the police.
However, protests, strikes and speaking to domestic or foreign media are strictly banned by factory management, meaning workers have few if any sources of leverage.
Workers who violate rules and procedures face being deported and possibly banned from re-entering China for between one and five years.
Changing workplaces is difficult, said a Myanmar woman who works at a factory in Ruili.
“If we no longer want to work at a factory, we can’t easily switch to another one. Instead we have to inform the factory officials, who then notify the police. The police then send us to the border,” the woman said.
‘We have to do whatever they want’
Myanmar workers say little is being done in China to address wage exploitation, abuse of labour rights and poor living conditions at factories and other workplaces.
A woman who has been working at a garment factory in Yunnan for nearly three years said most of the workers there are Myanmar nationals, with the largest number coming from Yangon or Mandalay.
“Although we don’t have full labour rights, we have to endure everything because of the situation in our home country and our need to make a living,” she said.
Shwe Phee Myay News Agency reported in early November that about 700 workers at a garment factory in Ruili had sought negotiations with management over allegations of wage exploitation but the employer did not respond. Police in Ruili arrested nine of the workers and the factory fired 89 more, who were accused of staging a protest.
“Staging a protest is something we cannot even consider,” said Ma Sandar. “Protesting would only result in us being arrested and fired,” she said, adding that few managers were open to negotiation of any kind.
“If workers do anything, management calls the police. The police beat the workers like dogs. At our factory, if a male worker drinks beer and sings with others after work, they call the police and report him. If we ask for anything because something is wrong, they ignore us. We have no right to protest. We have to do whatever they want.”
The official from the charity group in Muse said the labour rights of Myanmar migrants in China should be protected under a memorandum of understanding between the governments of the two countries.
“Most Chinese businessmen focus solely on their own interests and have no tolerance for workers’ protests. It would be more beneficial for workers if they could enter through an MoU system,” he said.
A woman from Kyaukse Township in Mandalay Region told Frontier that she had spent 16 days travelling to Muse so she could work in Ruili.
“The area we travelled through is not peaceful, so we had to get to Muse using alternate routes,” she said, referring to the disruption caused by large-scale fighting in northern Shan over the last year. “We don’t even know what roads we used.”
Once in Muse, a broker promised to help arrange her TBP and get her a position at a garment factory in Ruili with a starting debt of 2,500 yuan.
“The factory said that if I wanted to start work quickly, I could pay an additional 4,000 yuan, but I couldn’t afford to pay that much, so now I’ve been waiting a long time in Muse,” she said.
After more than two months in the town, she finally received her TBP on November 2, but three weeks later she was still waiting to be called to work across the border.
“While I’ve been waiting, my TBP card expired, but the factory said they would take responsibility for my work permit even after the card expired,” she said.
“Meanwhile, my broker hasn’t done anything to resolve the problem. I’ve been looking for work in Muse while I wait. I left home to work, so I don’t want to go back to Kyaukse. I want to work in China because I think I can earn more than I can in my country.”