Myanmar’s Economic Crisis Leads to Business Owners’ Arrests
Amid Myanmar’s currency depreciation and soaring inflation rates, a heartwarming gesture by the owner of three cellphone shops in Mandalay turned into a nightmare. The owner, U Pyae Phyo Zaw, decided to give his employees a raise, which quickly became viral on Facebook, sparking joy among his workers. However, the military regime ruling Myanmar viewed this act as a threat.
Subsequently, soldiers and police officers apprehended U Pyae Phyo Zaw, closed down his shops, and charged him with inciting public unrest under a broadly interpreted law used to stifle dissent. This incident is part of a pattern where multiple business owners have been arrested recently for similar acts of increasing their employees’ wages. While raising wages is not prohibited, these owners are accused of destabilizing the regime by allegedly spreading the belief of escalating inflation.
Those detained, including U Pyae Phyo Zaw, face potential imprisonment of up to three years for their actions. A notice posted outside one of U Pyae Phyo Zaw’s shops cited disturbance of “peace and order of the community” as the reason for its closure.
The economic turmoil caused by the military junta’s takeover in a 2021 coup, followed by widespread public resistance, has plunged Myanmar into a severe financial crisis. The country’s economic progress achieved over a decade of semi-democratic governance has been drastically reversed, leading to hardships for ordinary citizens grappling with exorbitant prices and uncertainty about the future.
