Apparel brand Esprit will no longer source from Tatmadaw – firms run by or affiliated with Myanmar’s military as they have fuelled “brutal operations against ethnic groups. This was decided by the brand after a recent report from the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar uncovered that revenues from the military’s affiliated businesses have been used to enhance its ability to carry out gross violations of human rights with impunity.

The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) has highlighted in recent years, earnings from Tatmadaw – firms run by or affiliated with Myanmar’s military – have fuelled “brutal operations against ethnic groups”, said to constitute serious crimes under international law. Since 2016, the country’s military has forced the deportation of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh; whilst 14 foreign companies have been outed as having supplied the military with fighter jets, armoured combat vehicles, warships and missile launchers during this period.

Having called on the UN Security Council and Member States to impose sanctions against companies run by the country’s military; fashion brands, including Esprit, H&M and Bestseller, have now made vocal their intentions to reevaluate where they’re sourcing from, as to stop any association.

In light of its findings, FFM made a series of recommendations which it hoped will erode the economic base of the military, undercut its obstruction of the reform process, impair its ability to carry out military operations without oversight and thus reduce violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and serve as a form of accountability in the short-term.