The owner of an industrial bakery in Yangon’s Dagon Seikkan township is facing multiple charges after hundreds of people gathered last Friday to demand that the business release its underage workers.
Aung Kyaw Min, the bakery’s owner, has been charged with violating the rights of children, police said. He is also accused of operating without a license.
The move followed two nights of angry protests outside the factory where the children, including one who was just eight years old, were allegedly being held against their will.
The episode began on the evening of November 19, two days after 19-year-old factory employee Kyaw Lin Tun escaped with the help of a local betel seller.
“We were sleeping. When we heard the sound of knocking, we went outside and saw the kid just sitting there,” said Aung Myo Thu
He later returned to demand the release of two siblings who were also working at the factory. When the owner refused, a crowd began to gather, according to local residents.
The next night, hundreds more joined the crowd, which started to riot after police tried to disperse them by firing rubber bullets.
A number of cars were destroyed and at least a dozen police officers were reported injured, including six who needed to be taken to the hospital.
The betel vendor’s story
Aung Myo Thu, who sells betel in front of the factory, said that he heard knocking on his door on the night of November 17.
“We were sleeping. When we heard the sound of knocking, we went outside and saw the kid just sitting there. He was empty-handed, but his left cheek was a bit swollen,” he said.
Two days later, Kyaw Lin Tun went to the Dagon Seikkan township police station to file charges against the owner of the factory for verbal and physical abuse.
By this time, he had been joined by two other employees of the factory named Ka Yin and San Shay, said Aung Myo Thu.
After going to the police station, the three child workers returned to the factory to seek the release of their five siblings. Several police officers and the ward administrator also went to the factory that evening, but the owner still refused to let the siblings leave. It was at this point that people started to gather.
“Some people were yelling that they were killing the children and putting them in freezers and making buns out of them,” said Dagon Seikkan Ward 87 administrator Soe Win
At around 10pm, the crowd started shouting as the factory owner tried to get the workers out in trucks. It was only then that the five siblings were allowed to leave, said Aung Myo Thu.
After that, the crowd continued to demand the release of all of the factory’s underage workers. Finally, 10 more workers were allowed to leave.
The police chief’s report
Major Kyaw Swar, who heads the Dagon Seikkan township police station, said that a total of 18 children who had been employed at the factory were now in the station’s care. The youngest, he said, is just eight years old.
According to Kyaw Swar, police charged the factory owner, Aung Kyaw Min, with using obscene language and deliberately causing bodily harm on November 20 after Kyaw Lin Tun accused him of verbally and physically abusing him for not cutting onions fast enough.
Asked about the condition of the 18 children being kept at the police station, he said that they appeared to be in good health. He added that the children treated their employers as if they were their parents.
The police did not make the children available to the media for questions.
Police later explained to the crowd that had gathered outside the factory that Aung Kyaw Min had been questioned at the police station about claims that he was torturing the workers and holding them against their will.
Hla Htay, the mother of three girls who have worked at the factory for the past six months, told Myanmar Now that her daughters were not allowed to come down to speak to her.
Despite efforts to placate the crowd, however, tensions came to a head again on November 20 amid rumours that children were still being held at the factory in an underground bunker.
“Some people were yelling that they were killing the children and putting them in freezers and making buns out of them,” Soe Win, the Dagon Seikkan Ward 87 administrator, told Myanmar Now.
A woman representing the crowd was allowed to enter the factory compound with police. She later addressed the others with a loudspeaker, urging them to disperse.
Later that night, however, some returned to try to enter the factory, leading to a confrontation with police on security duty.
Tales of abuse
Aung Myo Thu, the betel vendor, told Myanmar Now that abusive behaviour was not uncommon at the factory.
He said he once saw a worker getting slapped, and on another occasion heard a girl being beaten after she was caught trying to run away.
Others in the neighbourhood have reported similar incidents.
Si Thu Aung, the owner of a local construction supply store, recalled seeing a woman being chased as she tried to make her escape. He said she was caught and carried back by some men from the factory.
He added, however, that he had no direct contact with the factory employees and was unaware until now that it used child labour.
Even the parents of the children employed at the factory claimed to have very little knowledge of their working conditions.
Hla Htay, the mother of three girls who have worked at the factory for the past six months, told Myanmar Now that her daughters were not allowed to come down to speak to her.
It was only when they appeared on the balcony of an upper storey of the factory that they were able to exchange a few words, she said.
She explained that she and her husband had come to Yangon from their native Eain Mae in Ayeyarwady region to seek medical treatment.
She said that they lived in a room in the factory compound with the permission of the owner and received about 150,000 kyat ($115) a month as payment for their daughter’s labour.
