Burmese forced labour in the spotlight
source : BBC (16-09-01)
By regional analyst Larry Jagan in Bangkok
A high-level ILO delegation is due to arrive in Burma for a three-week investigative mission into the use of forced labour.
It has taken months of negotiations between the ILO`s Director-General, Juan Somavia, and the country`s military leaders. It is the first chance the international community has had to examine the situation of forced labour in Burma first-hand. Privately ILO officials are convinced that this is the first step in an on-going process of monitoring Burma`s respect for labour rights.
The Burmese Government says its supports the mission and will co-operate fully with it. The mission will report back to the ILO in November at its major annual session, a year after the organisation stepped up the pressure on Burma by demanding that its members review their policy towards Burma and consider implementing what analysts saw as an international economic boycott. The Burmese Government hopes that the findings will be in its favour.
Impressive team
Members of the mission will not be hoodwinked by the military authorities, says the Mr Somavia. They are very experienced and used to dealing with repressive regimes. The quality of the four members of the mission, he says will guarantee its success.
"They know their business, they know what to look at and they know what to ask," Juan Somavia told the BBC.
The calibre of the team is in fact very impressive:
Sir Ninian Stephen, is a former governor-general and chief justice of Australia, and chairman of a UN expert group on Cambodia.
Ms Nieves Roldan-Confessor is a former Philippines Secretary of Labour and Employment in the Philippines and advisor to the ILO`s governing body,
Kutatilaka Asrthanayake Parinda Ranasinghe is a former Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
Jerzy Makarczyk is the chief of the European court of human rights and a former deputy foreign minister of Poland.
Sources at the ILO told the BBC that the composition of the mission was chosen very carefully to avoid any representatives from the US or Europe being included.
Free access
The ILO says there was an agreement with the Burmese generals that the mission would be allowed to go anywhere. In fact, officials of the ILO says the Burmese Government hasn`t been told most of the destinations that the team wants to visit in the next three weeks, and they will only be told later.
Some destinations haven`t been chosen yet, an ILO official said. "And many of these will depend on the testimony and research gathered by the mission while they are in the country.
In the past few weeks, Burma`s military commanders have been touring the areas that might be on the mission`s itinerary telling villagers what to say.
In some areas, especially in Mon state, the local military commanders have been making villagers sign petitions saying there is no forced labour in their area.
This is not the sort of evidence that will give great credibility by the visiting judges. They will want to talk to villagers in private.
Protection offer
Anyone who wants protection will have it, says Mr Somavia. This was part of our understanding with the Burmese authorities, he told the BBC.One always has to be extremely careful in these situations of what happens to those who do want to meet with the mission and stay there, he said.
Juan Somavia is convinced of two things: that dialogue is the most effective way to bring change to authoritarian regimes - he says he has the experience Chile to support his approach; and secondly, he says his main purpose is to lessen the use of forced labour in any country and in the end wants to eradicate it all together.
This will still take some doing in Burma. Human rights groups like AsiaWatch say that forced labour is still used extensively, particularly in border areas where the army uses them for porters. Burma`s generals insist that only voluntary labour is used for portering and government infrastructural projects.
In Mon state, members of the New Mon State Party say that although it wasn`t as bad as it used to be, forced labour is still a major problem in the area, despite the ceasefire agreement signed with Burmese military government.
The ILO says this mission is part of an on-going process. In private, senior officials admit that establishing a permanent presence in Rangoon is the only way to ensure the elimination of forced labour and prosecution and punishment of those found to be using force labour.
The ILO, says Mr Somavia won't be satisfied with something that doesn`t appear to be real progress. It is progress for a mission to be there, but progress has to continue.