ASEAN'S
Proposal
THE RESOLUTION
In March, the ILO Governing Body adopted a resolution that recommended
a series of measures to be taken against the Burmese government under article
33 of the ILO Constitution. These measures were in response to Burma's failure
to implement recommendations contained in the 1998 ILO Commission of Inquiry
report, "Forced Labor in Myanmar." The Governing Body's resolution was to be
taken up at the June 2000 International Labour Conference, and a Selection Committee
comprised of government, worker, and employer representatives was tasked with
preparing it for action by the Conference. Anticipating a vote by the Conference,
several Asian nations proposed an alternative resolution to the Selection Committee,
which in effect would delay any punitive actions being taken against Burma.
Following is an excerpt from the June 8 discussions in the Selection Committee
The representative of the Government of Malaysia, speaking on behalf of the
Governments of Indonesia and the Philippines (and supported by the Governments
of Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and Vietnam, which were not members of the Committee)
continued to remain preoccupied with the question of observance by Myanmar of
Convention No. 29 which the Governing Body of the ILO has decided to place on
the agenda of the 88th Session of the Conference. At the Fourteenth ASEAN Labor
Ministers meeting held on 11 and 12 May 2000 in Manila, the Ministers had discussed
this matter constructively, welcomed the invitation by the Government of Myanmar
for the ILO technical cooperation mission to visit Yangon, and strongly urged
the ILO that this mission take place. On behalf of the above countries, he expressed
sincere appreciation to the Director-General and the members of the technical
team for their efforts. The visit and the report by the mission marked important
progress in efforts to engage the Government in Myanmar in resolving the issue
of forced labor in their country. The willingness and sincerity demonstrated
by the Government of Myanmar to cooperate in resolving this issue was a good
way forward and should be taken fully into account. The Government had gone
out of its way to facilitate the technical teams' meeting with as many personalities
as possible both within and outside the Government, including the diplomatic
community, to enable the team to have an objective view of the situation. The
Committee should take into account this goodwill and openness in determining
the way forward and finding an amicable resolution of the matter. More effective
and pragmatic means could be found to resolve these issues through cooperation
rather than resorting to drastic measures, which might have far-reaching ramifications,
and therefore could seriously undermine all of the efforts taken thus far to
resolve the matter. The Committee should build upon the important progress achieved
by the technical mission, work with the Government of Myanmar on a comprehensive
framework for the elimination of the practice of forced labor, and refrain from
applying measures under article 33 of the ILO Constitution. He referred to the
proposal by the Governments for which he spoke, which he strongly believed merited
the serious attention of the Committee in view of the latest positive developments.