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ILO Efforts to Combat Forced Labour in Burma Unrealistic

Thai labour experts and non-governmental organisations are sceptical that a recent memorandum of understanding struck between the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Burmese junta enabling victims of forced labour to seek redress will deliver results.

The ILO announced that it had reached an understanding with the Burmese government in which victims of forced labour could now file complaints with its officer in Rangoon. The ILO officer will then investigate any alleged abuses and push for concrete action with the Burmese government, including punishment for perpetrators and redress for the injured party. According to the ILO, the understanding also guarantees that no retaliatory action will be taken against complainants.

However, Kritiya Achavanichkul, director of the Institute for Population and Social Research of Mahidol University, who monitors the labour situation in Burma, said that the MOU was impractical. She said forced labourers would not have the channels or the capability to lodge any complaints, even if they wanted to. And despite the ILO's claims that complainants would not face any repercussions, she said there was no real way of giving assurances that they and their families would be safe.

Ms Kritiya said she had no idea what the Rangoon government's intentions were in entering into the agreement.

Pranom Somwong, of the MAP Foundation for the Health and Knowledge of Ethnic Labour, said non-governmental organisations viewed the MOU as a joke. The Burmese junta could not guarantee justice and its leadership was the very cause of forced labour, she said.

The MOU provides that alleged victims of forced labour will have the freedom to submit complaints to the ILO Liaison Officer in Rangoon. The officer will then make a confidential assessment as to whether a case involves forced labour to facilitate an investigation by the Burmese authorities. The system will be implemented on a 12-month trial basis and may be extended by mutual agreement.

Adapted from: "ILO efforts to combat forced labour in Burma 'unrealistic'." Bangkok Post. 1 March  2007.