By Myo Thein - Sep 05, 2025
#Letter
We are currently working in Laos. We are workers at Everlao Cap Factory.
There is another garment factory with the same name, Everlao, but we work at the headwear factory. We came to Laos through a Myanmar agent. The Myanmar agent is Ar Htan. After arriving in Laos, now almost 11 months ago, the factory started breaching contract agreements.
They changed the payroll system to only pay salaries on the 11th of each month and forced us to sign for it. They provide 50,000 Lao Kip per day for meals. We don’t get it if we don’t work, . They deduct both the daily wage and meal allowance.
In the dormitory, they stopped providing water regularly. Water cuts happen frequently. The meal allowance for 11 days is deducted again based on the number of days. When we say we don’t have food to eat, they tell us to loan money and manage. There are over 700 Myanmar workers in the dormitory.
We were already deducted $40 in our very first month in Laos for 8 days of “daily deductions.” Now they’re deducting for 11 days without informing anyone or giving a reason. The agent came once to the factory. Even when officials from the Myanmar Embassy visited, the factory and the agent conspired and instructed us to lie.
They told us to say we had our original passports, valid visas, leave cards, and work permits. But they’re still holding on to them now. The factory keeps our passports and warns us to be careful around police when we go out, saying if we get arrested, they won’t help us.
We are working here legally. But now we’re afraid of getting arrested. When the Myanmar Embassy came, they gave back our documents but only for three days. Then they took them again. After that, they made us lie that everything was okay and normal.
They said we could go back to Myanmar only after paying a compensation if we don’t lie. We work 10 hours a day. No overtime is included. If there’s no work, they send us back without paying us. Then they count the hours we didn’t work as debt and make us work it off.
At first, they hired people for cleaning. Now they’ve stopped providing water and make us clean the toilets and dormitories ourselves. They say we can't live in the dorm if we refuse. They threatened to deduct 500,000 Lao Kip per room as a penalty. The dorm has five floors, with 23 rooms per floor. Each room houses eight workers.
They force us to clean while cutting off the water. We are requesting help from the responsible authorities. We are working 10 hours a day, and we are having our passports held. We ask for help resolving these issues.
We reported these difficulties to the Myanmar agent, Ar Htan. But they are doing nothing to help. They charged us an unreasonably high processing fee for Zero Calling and is acting irresponsibly.
We are attaching photo evidence as proof.
We thank Myanmar Labour News for your attention.
