The Junta versus Forced Labour
By Kanbawza Win
New Delhi, May 9, 2001
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)
For years the Burmese Military Junta has been using forced labour throughout the length and breadth of the country, a fact that is well known to the international community. So it came to no surprise when the International Labour Organization (ILO) kicked the Burmese Junta of its membership.
The Junta, on the other hand,is not at all remorseful about it, although it was quite upset the Generals construe the event as the ILO being controlled by the big powers. They interpreted ILO’s decision as arising out of an arbitrary judgement based on misinformation and as part of the manipulation by the big nations, victimizing developing nations like Burma.
Obviously the regime goes ahead with its planned forced labour and orders its Colonel Thin Maung of Tactical Command No. 2 to use 500 forced labour workers to construct a new road from Myitta (near Tavoy) in Tenasserim Division to Bongti on the Thai-Burma border. This is part of the renovation of the notorious Japanese death highway connecting Thailand and Burma during the Second World War. Other forced labour projects in the ethnic region of Shan, Karen and Karenni states continue as usual as part and parcel of the ethnic cleansing process.
The ILO demand for an end to forced labour and punishment for those who continue using it placed the Junta between the devil and the deep blue sea. Forced labour like other human rights violations is not something the Junta can simply pretend does not exist. Of course, at first they denied its existence and then they said it is an old tradition of making merit (meaning that one gains merit by giving voluntary labour and they insist that all this forced labour is voluntarily). Then they admitted that it exists in certain projects, and later they admitted that they were in the process of dealing with it, and so on. Their confused attempts to answer the ILO clearly showed that massive forced labour was endemic in Burma.
So then, the question of complying with the ILO demand was a formidable task. Forced labour in Burma cannot be construed as an isolated issue. It is the very heart and soul of the Junta's entire rule of more than a decade. The core problem is that the Junta has no real ideology except its obsession to hold onto power, if possible in perpetuity, and in order to hold on to power, it has to reward its armed organizations with something tangible. But the fact of the matter is that the regime has nothing to offer its officer corps in return for their loyalty except absolute power as small dictators in their jurisdiction. This has led to the era of pillaging, plundering and using civilians for personal profit and gains, with complete impunity. Mid-level officers literally make millions or more Kyats per year by using forced labour. Money from businesses such as logging, construction of infrastructure projects, brick baking, rubber plantation, fishpond, growing cash crops, purchasing of paddy etc. are all lucrative ventures for those petty military officers in charge. They can live quite a comfortable life paid for by civilians in order to avoid forced labour.
Thus, if ever the Junta acted on the ILO recommendation and ordered its officer corps not to use forced labour it would definitely take away their money-making process and if carried a step further and included punishing those who demand forced labour be stopped (tantamount to taking away their impunity), the petty officers who are in the majority would be very edgy. Discontent would naturally rise among the mass of junior officers, and the Junta would face very restless officers whose loyalty is not guaranteed. A split or rebellion in the army is the greatest fear of the Junta. This would definitely lead to the beginning of the end of the Burmese military Junta.
Forced labour in Burma is a form of reward for the officers in the field whose loyalty was bought at a very low price i.e. the exploitation of coerced civilian labour and the profit made from the backs of civilians. Another factor to be reckoned with, is who will do the necessary labour once this forced labour is eliminated. The Junta claims that progress has been made since the Burmese Socialist Programme Party days. The Junta's reliance on convicts as forced labour cannot meet the demand. In the current military operations against the ethnic groups and armed democratic organizations, the Burmese army has to use forced labour in the form of porters. This is partly due to the lack of mechanized division where forced labour became so essential to their survival.
But the most important factor is that even if the Junta wishes to stop the practice of forced labour, it cannot unless it is willing to introduce radical and wide-ranging reforms unilaterally via a political dialogue and settlement with the opposition. This is the one and only way it could protect itself against the possible backlash from the officer corps and it means essentially weakening the political power of the army itself. This would be tantamount to digging their own grave and obviously they will not do such a thing and would rather go down fighting to the death. We are sure that the Junta will never contemplate yielding to ILO's demand.
The ILO has further stressed that until and unless the Junta takes concrete action and adopts the necessary framework of legislative, executive and administrative measures, more punitive actions will be taken. It also recommend its 174 member states both government and employee to review their relations with the Burmese Junta to ensure that they cannot in any way be used to perpetuate the system of forced labour. In this sense the voices of hundreds of thousands of workers who have died in forced labour camps have been heard. Their spirit, crying for justice, has not been abandoned by the international community.
However, to soften the world’s opinion and also to protect themselves the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS) at Signal Pagoda Road in Rangoon, the think tank of the Burmese Military Junta, has done a meticulous research and has recommended that Burma should be prepared for international community censure. It should also rely on the two countries of ASEAN, viz, Singapore and Malaysia, that have staunchly supported the Junta.
Firstly OSS has recommended that all Burmese exports should be sent via private companies to Malaysia and Singapore in case the civilized international community should refuse to purchase Burmese export that are based on forced labour, especially the garment industry which is based on child labour. Only then will the Western companies, especially North American companies like Wal Mart, SAAN and others continue to purchase them. The Burmese Junta knew that the ASEAN countries of Malaysia and Singapore were legitimized regimes that have not only a facade of democracy but also the technical know-how to distribute them. Burma has to rely much on Singapore whose small arms (especially the latest mine proof boots with a thin steel plate is place at the sole so that the mine will not blow up the leg when stepping on) are of great use in fighting the ethnic and pro-democracy groups in Burma. Besides it can pay with Singapore narco-dollars which is the main conduit for laundering narco-dollars now that DBS bank has become a leading bank in that part of the world. Hence it has endeavoured to curb its drug war lords especially Lo Hse Han, Steven Law, (owner of Singapore's Asia World Company) Hwe Hsu Keng and the rest telling them not to be too conspicuous in traveling to and fro to Singapore. In the case of Khun Hsa permission has to be granted on medical grounds, who imitating U Ne Win is taking treatment at the Singaporean Hospital.
Secondly the OSS has directed that the Burmese government representative continues to sit at the ILO and face the fire from the rest of the countries even though Burma has been kicked out of this international organization. This is because in the absence of the Burmese government representative, the FTUB (Federation of Trade Union, of Burma) led by the opposition group will take their place and in future they may have no say whatsoever. It was the FTUB led by Pyi Thit Nyunt Wai that has successfully taken the initiative to publicize forced labour in Burma. It can be also conjectured that an assassination team may have been hatched to liquidate Pyi Thit Nyunt Wai as they have successfully done to reporter Zan Ya in Germany and the NCGUB (National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma) cabinet minister in China because Pyi Thit Nyunt Wai has been construed as a terrorist by the Junta.
Thirdly, to expand and encourage the existing bilateral trade through the border gates with the neighbouring countries. Trade with India, Bangladesh and China has been greatly increased while with Thailand it has already drawn up plans and has reached compromise agreement with the Thais. However, it has cautioned that only essential goods are to be imported while luxury and some consumer goods are to be screened. With this aim in view it has sent the all powerful Na Hsa Ka ( border supervision committee) that will oversee and over-ride the decisions of the local immigration, border police and customs.
Now there exists the possibility that port labourers throughout the world may organize through their respective labour unions, and under the influence of the ILO, may refuse to load and unload Burmese goods. So the OSS has recommended that all Burmese products be put into containers, hence only the cranes and heavy machinery (with the minimum use of labour) can be affective.
Fourthly, it has directed that the Foreign Trade ministry in drawing up contracts with the international private companies, to include a clause saying that these companies who are doing business with Burma must shoulder the responsibility of loading and unloading the Burmese goods so that in case of a labour problem at that particular port it would be the responsibilities of the private companies.
Number five is to soften up the labour unions of India, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Japan because it was to these countries that most of the Burmese exports goes. Hence the Junta's explanatory teams are to be dispatched to these places to explain and justify the Junta's perspective.
But the most important aspect of the OSS recommendations is that this coming July UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) will take up the issue of Burma including forced labour, forced relocation, child labour, trafficking of women, exporting of narco-drugs etc. directives have been issued to Burmese embassies abroad to explain the Junta's stand and to soften the UNESCO delegates especially the 54 member countries of UNESCO. Failing to do it, Burma could still be kicked out of the UNESCO as well as the ILO. Hence the Junta is well prepared for the international community come what may.
Whatever the case may be it is heartening for the persecuted people of the world to witness an unprecedented moved by the ILO that will serves a green light for the World Bank, ADB and the IMF to enforce sanctions which can later result in kicking out of the UN itself.