PART 1 OF THE REPORT OF THE ILO TEC

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TEXT OF THE REPORT OF THE ILO TECHNICAL MISSION TO BURMA
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The PDF version is on the ILO website at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc88/pdf/pr-8.pdf

PART 1

International Labour Conference
Provisional Record 8
Eighty-eighth Session, Geneva, 2000
Eighth item on the agenda

Report of the ILO technical cooperation
mission to Myanmar


Origin and progress of the mission

The exchange of letters reproduced in Annex II of document CRP4 between the 
Government of Myanmar and the Director-General from 14 October 1999 onwards 
explains the origin and the purpose of the mission. As a result of this 
exchange, the Director-General agreed to send the mission only after 
obtaining the agreement of the Myanmar authorities that the sole object of 
such a mission would be to provide direct assistance to implement 
immediately the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry under the 
terms of the resolution adopted on this subject by the International Labour 
Conference at its 87th Session (1999). In addition, in a letter dated 10 
May 2000 the Director-General insisted that the members of the mission team 
should have the necessary facilities (in particular the freedom of action 
to make all contacts that they considered useful) and the immunities needed 
to carry out their task. It was not until Saturday, 20 May 2000, that the 
Director-General received confirmation, in terms that he regarded as 
sufficiently precise, that this would be the case.

The mission departed for Yangon on Monday, 22 May. Its members were as follows:
Mr. Francis Maupain, Special Adviser to the Director-General; Mr. Max Kern, 
Chief, Freedom of Workers Section; Labour Branch; Mr. Carmelo Noriel, an 
official from the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

The mission was accompanied by Mr. Rueben Winston Dudley, Deputy-Director,
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and Mr. Richard Horsey, 
Adviser, ILO.

The mission was received in Yangon on the evening of Tuesday, 23 May. It 
left Yangon on the afternoon of Saturday, 27 May, so as to be able to 
report to the International Labour Conference in good time. With only three 
full days available to it, the mission was obliged to fit into a very short 
space of time a programme of intensive discussions with senior officials 
from the various ministry departments concerned, talks with the Ministers 
of Labour, Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs and, at the last moment, with 
Secretary-1 of the SPDC, as well as meetings and talks with representatives 
of the National League for Democracy (NLD), ambassadors and diplomats based 
in Yangon, and representatives of several international organizations.

The mission wishes to acknowledge that the government authorities fully 
honoured their commitment to give the mission the necessary freedom of 
action to make contacts and agreed to adjust the programme of meetings with 
government representatives in order to allow other talks to take place.


Appendix 3 contains the detailed programme of meetings and talks held by the
mission, as well as a list of individuals involved in those meetings.


Technical discussions with the Government

The provisional programme proposed by the Government's Coordination 
Committee envisaged a series of separate meetings with the various 
ministerial departments concerned (the Ministries of Labour, Home Affairs 
and Foreign Affairs), and with representatives of the Attorney-General's 
Office and of the Supreme Court.

The mission proposed to the organizing committee that, given the limited 
time available and the need to achieve tangible results within that time, 
it would be preferable to begin with a joint session in which all the 
ministry departments concerned could be briefed on the overall context 
within which the mission was taking place and on the objectives which it 
believed it could set itself.

A joint meeting accordingly took place on Wednesday morning. During that 
meeting (in the light of certain articles that had appeared in the press), 
the mission observed that the ILO's image was not necessarily a friendly 
one in certain quarters but that, even if it could not make the image more 
friendly, it could at least endeavour to make it more accurate. To that 
end, it was essential to be as frank and open as possible in order to 
establish a basis of trust. Contrary to allegations that were often made, 
the ILO's intention was not in any way to encroach on national sovereignty. 
The ILO's philosophy was based on the principle of voluntarism and 
dialogue. According to the first of these principles, any country was free 
to become a Member of the ILO and to ratify its Conventions. However, once 
a country freely agreed to ratify a given Convention, it was bound to 
honour the commitments it had freely accepted. The mission also emphasized 
that, under the terms of the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and 
Rights at Work, the obligation to eliminate forced labour was now regarded 
as being inherent in ILO membership, whether or not a country had accepted 
the specific obligations arising from Convention No. 29.

With regard to the second pillar of the ILO's philosophy, that of dialogue, 
the mission recalled that the issues which constituted the object of the 
visit were certainly not new. They had for many years been the subject of 
observations made by the Committee of Experts with a view to eliminating 
the discrepancies that had been noted between national laws and the 
obligations arising from the Conventions. However, the Constitution of the 
ILO imposed certain limits on the possibility of dialogue. Those limits had 
been reached with the decision of the Governing Body to place on the agenda 
the question of the application by Myanmar of article 33 of the 
Constitution, in the light of its failings in the implementation of the 
recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry. The mission briefly 
recalled the three categories of measures which would be before the 
Conference at the proposal of the Governing Body, and gave some information 
regarding the procedures which would be used to examine them.

Apart from those proposals, the Conference would also have before it the 
mission's report, which it intended should be full and objective. It would 
be for the Conference in its wisdom to draw the appropriate conclusions 
from the report and from the findings of the mission.

However, the mission also wished to emphasize that, in order to convince 
the Conference, the results would have to be concrete and precise and 
involve a commitment by the authorities at the highest level. There was a 
need to overcome the credibility gap which had arisen over the years as a 
result of promises that had not been kept, and which had to a certain 
extent been exacerbated by the attitude towards the Commission of Inquiry 
and its recommendations and by recent attempts to excuse deficient action 
to amend the legislation. If, as had often been stated, forced labour did 
not exist or was gradually disappearing, it should be all the easier to 
remove the discrepancies in the Towns and Village Acts inherited from the 
colonial era. In this regard, Order No. 1/99 left considerable gaps in 
terms of scope and content.

Amending the legislation should not only be relatively easy; it was also 
clearly in the country's own interests. It would give the international 
community and other organizations a very strong signal regarding its 
willingness to change. It would also allow the ILO to provide assistance 
for a possible follow-up, in the form of technical cooperation.

The representatives of the various ministerial departments said that they 
appreciated the frankness of the mission's explanation of the context and 
objectives of its visit. Subsequent meetings were devoted to discussions on 
more specific legal aspects of the task of bringing national legislation 
into conformity and of a possible follow-up.


Technical discussions on the implementation of the
recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry

In accordance with the terms of reference of the mission, which related to 
the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, [1] 
an extensive exchange of views took place between the mission and 
Government representatives from the Ministries of Labour, Foreign Affairs 
and Home Affairs, the Attorney-General's Office and the Supreme Court. 
These exchanges touched upon the following points.

A.      Amendment of legislation

The Government representatives expressed the view that Order No. 1/99 
issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 14 May 1999 (an Order directing 
not to exercise powers under certain provisions of the Towns Act, 1907, and 
the Village Act, 1907)[2] had given effect to the first recommendation of 
the Commission of Inquiry by amending the offending legislation. Under the 
legal system of Myanmar, the Government had the power to legislate and 
amend laws, and Order No. 1/99, was issued under the directive of the State 
Peace and Development Council, the law-making body, and had the full force 
of law.

The mission took due note of the Government's power to change legislation 
by an amending order but observed that, as had been noted by the Committee 
of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in its 
most recent report,[3] the Village and Towns Acts had not been amended; the 
difference between amending the Acts themselves and merely directing 
certain authorities not to exercise powers under the Acts had implications, 
inter alia, for the rights and obligations of others, including citizens 
who may be called up for service or labour under the Acts. Moreover, as 
noted by the Committee of Experts,[4] Order No. 1/99 had reserved the 
exercise of powers under the relevant provisions of the Village Act and the 
Towns Act in several ways incompatible with the Convention; only the 
exception for emergencies as defined in section 5(a) of the Order was in 
conformity with the Convention and could be retained in amending the Acts 
themselves. Beyond this, specific drafting suggestions were offered.


B. Measures to stop the exaction in practice
of forced or compulsory labour

The mission noted that the Government had not challenged the report and 
conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry before the International Court of 
Justice under the relevant provisions of the Constitution. The Government 
representatives indicated that, following the issuance of Order No. 1/99 
and its wide circulation and publication, the exaction of forced or 
compulsory labour had stopped in practice, and offered reports by various 
agencies under the Ministry of Home Affairs on their implementation of the 
Order. They also repeated earlier indications that no complaints of forced 
or compulsory labour had come to the notice of the law enforcement bodies 
since the issuance of Order No. 1/99. The mission recalled that its own 
terms of reference did not include fact-finding, and noted that the 
continued imposition of forced labour in practice, in particular by the 
military, had been noted by the Committee of Experts.

In reply to the mission's observation that Order No. 1/99 concerned only 
the powers of certain civilian authorities under the Village Act and Towns 
Act and did not touch upon the powers of the military, who could still 
order the local authorities to provide assistance, the Government 
representatives pointed out that the Order was circulated to all 
ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, and that therefore the 
military had to take account of the Order. The mission recalled that, 
according to the findings of the Commission of Inquiry, orders from the 
military for the supply of labour or services never referred to the Village 
or Towns Acts and that, according to the Committee of Experts, this 
practice continued. To give effect to the second recommendation of the 
Commission of Inquiry, the mission suggested replacing Order No. 1/99 with 
an order from the SPDC instructing state authorities, and in particular 
military authorities, border security forces and their officers, not to 
requisition persons to provide labour or services for any purpose, nor to 
order others to requisition such labour or services, regardless of whether 
or not payment was made for said labour or services, except in cases of 
emergency (as listed in Order No. 1/99). It was suggested that it should be 
made clear in the Order that this prohibition included, but was not limited 
to, the requisition of labour or services for a range of specifically 
listed purposes.[5] Finally, the prohibition was to be complemented by 
positive indications for state authorities or officers requiring labour or 
services for any purpose to make prior budgetary arrangements to obtain 
these by a public tender process or by providing market rates to persons 
wishing to offer their labour or services.

There also was an exchange of views as to the scope of the exception 
provided for under Article 2(2)(e) of the Convention for minor communal 
services.[6]

The Government representatives declined the mission's offer to present in 
writing possible illustrations of the amendments required at this stage.


B.      Punishment of those imposing forced labour

With regard to the application to the military of section 374 of the Penal 
Code of Myanmar, which provides for the punishment of whoever compels any 
person to labour against the will of that person, the Government 
representatives indicated that the Penal Code applied to everybody, 
civilian or military, and that in case of violation of section 374 of the 
Penal Code military officers would be liable to punishment under both the 
Penal Code and section 72 of the Defence Services Act, 1959. Noting the 
further explanation given by the government authorities that the exaction 
of labour had to be "unlawful" to be punishable under section 374 of the 
Penal Code, the mission recalled that the provisions of the Village and 
Towns Acts allowing military officers to call on local authorities for the 
supply of labour or services might have to be amended in order to make the 
corresponding exaction of labour "unlawful" in national law and thus 
punishable under section 374 of the Penal Code.[7]


Assistance with implementation and follow-up

Bearing in mind the complexity of the context in which forced labour 
practices occurred, the mission raised the question of how the ILO might 
give its support to the implementation of legal provisions and practical 
measures aimed at implementing the recommendations of the Commission of 
Inquiry so that those provisions would be translated effectively into 
practice. The Government representatives objected to the notion of 
"monitoring" used during the discussions, noting that the concept went 
beyond the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry and therefore also 
the mandate of the mission. The mission stated that, setting aside the term 
in question, the issue was the possibility of assisting Myanmar in putting 
into effect a credible plan of action of the kind mentioned in the 
Director-General's letter of 10 May. Once Myanmar had shown its 
determination to put into place the legislative, administrative and 
practical measures envisaged in the recommendations of the Commission of 
Inquiry, the Office might be able to provide in this regard various forms 
of assistance and support, which might include an ILO presence in the country.


Talks with the competent ministers

Talks with the Minister of Labour,
Major General Tin Ngwe

The mission explained to the Minister the context and objectives of its 
visit as set out in the first paragraph of this report. It emphasized that, 
although it was obviously not realistic to expect new legislation and 
credible follow-up to be decided upon in the very short time available, the 
mission could at least offer the Government an opportunity to demonstrate 
concretely and precisely its desire to implement the Commission's 
recommendations.

The Minister outlined in detail the situation of the country and the 
position of the Government. The country was in a transition period. The 
Government was not an elected Government and must therefore be careful how 
it handled any changes to acts and regulations. That was why it issued 
directives and orders, and Order No. 1/99 had seemed to be the most 
appropriate measure. The Village and Towns Acts were just one of many 
examples of an outdated set of laws that needed to be entirely and 
systematically reviewed. However, that would take a considerable time. 
Meanwhile, Order No. 1/99 would be applied and any violators punished. No 
complaint had so far been received by the authorities, however. The 
Minister was intrigued by the fact that the complaints (referred to by the 
ICFTU) had only appeared after 1990, whereas it was before that date that, 
in order to deal with widespread insurgency, the need for porters for 
military operations had been greatest. The mission recalled that it had no 
fact-finding mandate, but only one of seeing to the implementation of the 
Commission of Inquiry's recommendations. It stressed the urgency of rapid 
action to that effect, since the Conference would be dealing with the 
matter the following week; even if it had not been elected, the Government 
could provide undertakings regarding the steps it intended to take. The 
mission again observed that an improvement in the situation could only make 
it easier to introduce the changes called for and that they would be 
altogether in the interests of the country and of the re-establishing of 
normal relations with the international community. The Minister replied 
that the Government had already evinced a commitment in spirit but that it 
had to follow the correct procedures. The mission welcomed that commitment 
while hoping that this commitment might be given more concrete form before 
the mission left the country.


Talks with the Minister of Home Affairs,
Colonel Tin Hlaing

The mission again explained the origin and objectives of its visit and 
emphasized the need to overcome the credibility gap that had arisen as a 
result of earlier promises that had not been fulfilled, as well as the need 
for concrete and specific measures to be taken to bring about the necessary 
changes in the legislation and to put in place a credible mechanism for 
their follow-up. The mission explained that it had already discussed the 
technical and legal aspects of the problems with the Village and Towns Acts 
and the shortcomings of Order No. 1/99 in terms of both its scope and its 
content. It trusted that the Minister would do what he could to see that a 
precise and concrete undertaking was given that action would very soon be 
taken on the question of the legislation and its implementation.

The Minister assured the mission that any forced labour practices would be 
dealt with and punished in accordance with the law. However, he denied that 
there were any such practices at present. He emphasized the efforts that 
the Government had made to develop the country despite the absence of 
external assistance and affirmed that it was the Government's intention to 
turn over the administration of the country to a democratically elected 
government as soon as sufficient political and military stability had been 
restored.

Responding to a remark by the Minister that the ICRC's experience sufficed 
to disprove a number of allegations from abroad to the effect that the 
Government was concealing the real situation, the mission stressed that it 
was indeed interested in the ICRC's experience and would have the 
opportunity to hear more about it. It observed, moreover, that not only did 
changes to the legislation appear to be possible, judging from the 
technical discussions that had already been held, but that such changes and 
the message they would send to the outside world were very clearly in the 
interests of the country. The mission emphasized that the ILO, for its 
part, would certainly be in a position to advise on where and how the 
legislation could be amended and on how its recommendations might be 
implemented. First, though, the Government had to demonstrate a 
genuine  willingness to take action. While thanking the mission for its 
opinion, the Minister stressed that the Government had already demonstrated 
its commitment and would endeavour to take the necessary action in the 
light of what the mission had requested.


Talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Win Aung

The mission again outlined the context and objectives of its visit. The 
Minister rejected the accusations of forced labour and pointed out that 
they related to an economic and military situation that no longer existed. 
Thanks to the progress that had been made in pacifying the country, the 
requisitioning of porters had ceased, as had the use of forced labour on 
infrastructural works. He said that the authorities could not be accused of 
harbouring any sentiment other than the greatest good will towards the 
people of Myanmar, whose human and spiritual qualities the mission could 
appreciate for itself. What was important was the willingness of the 
Government and not the long-obsolete provisions of the Village and Towns 
Acts. He hoped that the ILO's mission would be followed by other missions 
and that the ILO would cooperate further with Myanmar. The mission observed 
that, though all its members would certainly be happy to return in a 
personal capacity to a country that they had unfortunately only been able 
to see very little of, the possibility of a mission returning would depend 
on the decisions that would be taken by the International Labour Conference 
in the light of the present mission's results. At the same time, the 
mission felt that it must make it very clear that, although it was indeed 
the willingness of the Government that mattered, it was up to the 
Government to take the relevant actions and in particular ensure that texts 
dating back to colonial times - which it described as obsolete - would be 
amended in line with the Commission of Inquiry's recommendations. Once the 
commitment to take such action was sufficiently clear, the ILO would 
certainly be in a position to provide assistance in bringing about changes 
in the legislation and in setting up a credible plan of action for their 
follow-up. An ILO presence could certainly be contemplated in such a 
context. The Minister expressed his good will and said he would do what he 
could to have the mission meet Secretary-1 of the SPDC, as the mission had 
requested.


Talks and meetings with various
institutions, embassies and persons

Talks with the National League for Democracy (NLD)

The mission had the privilege of meeting Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, General 
Secretary of the NLD, in the presence of Mr. Aung Shwe, Chairman of the 
NLD, and of other senior NLD members. It was thus able to explain the 
purpose of the mission, the advisability of which Ms. Suu Kyi had initially 
questioned. The mission emphasized that the Director-General had decided to 
send the mission only after receiving assurances that it would take place 
strictly within the framework of the June 1999 resolution of the 
International Labour Conference, i.e. that its purpose would be to secure 
the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry. The 
mission then proceeded to a fairly detailed exchange on certain rules 
governing the functioning of the International Labour Conference.

On the subject of forced labour specifically, Ms. Suu Kyi stated that the 
NLD was the only organization from within the country that was concerned 
with the matter and with following it up. She stressed the continuing 
gravity of forced labour, particularly in the light of its use by the 
military, and the extreme form that it could take with the enlistment of 
child soldiers. She also described in more general terms the extreme 
poverty and precarious situation of the entire workforce, which did not 
have access to any real social protection, including workers who were 
employed by foreign multinational corporations. The mission pointed out 
that its role was not to reopen the discussion on the facts of the 
situation but to secure the implementation of the Commission of Inquiry's 
recommendations by means of changes in the legislation and the 
establishment of a credible follow-up mechanism. Ms. Suu Kyi wished the 
mission success and urged it to be firm in its resolve.


Meetings with ambassadors resident in Yangon

The mission outlined the context and objectives of its visit and responded 
as far as possible to the interest that its presence had elicited from a 
number of embassies and diplomatic missions. The clarification provided was 
particularly appropriate as certain media reports seemed to have presented 
it as a fact-finding mission.

In conformity with the mission's mandate, the purpose of its meetings with 
ambassadors was not to collect information on the facts of the situation, 
although certain ambassadors and diplomatic representatives it had met had 
spontaneously voiced their views on the subject. Rather the purpose of 
these meetings was to explain the relevance of the mission to the steps 
that the International Labour Conference would be called upon to take the 
following week, and in which the delegates of all the countries concerned 
would be involved. The object of the meetings was also to hear the views of 
the diplomats concerned as to how the ILO could contribute to helping 
Myanmar realistically and effectively to implement the changes that had 
been called for. The mission heard a broad range of views on all these 
questions - which, for obvious reasons, will not be discussed further in 
this report.


Meeting/discussion with the United Nations
Country Team and specialized agencies
in Yangon

Prior to its departure, the mission had contacted the UNDP in Yangon. The 
Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Yangon, Mr. Patrice 
Coeur-Bizot, organized a meeting with representatives of the United Nations 
organizations and specialized agencies (UNICEF, FAO, UNHCR, WFP, UNAIDS). 
The mission was thus able both to respond to the interest and curiosity of 
its United Nations colleagues regarding an unprecedented development in the 
cooperation between the United Nations and Myanmar, and to learn about and 
compare their respective experiences in so far as they might be of interest 
and relevance to the follow-up to any changes in legislation and practice 
in Myanmar. The representatives of the various agencies spoke very freely 
and the information they contributed complemented very usefully that which 
the mission had obtained elsewhere, especially from the embassies.


Meeting with the ICRC delegate in Yangon

The mission was privileged to have a fairly long meeting with Mr. Léon de
Riedmatten, delegate of the ICRC. He shared with it his experiences in 
visiting the prisons and camps, where he had been allowed to talk both to 
common-law prisoners and to political prisoners. The ICRC's experience 
seemed to be very much worthy of interest from several points of view. In 
the first place, Mr. de Riedmatten was generally thought to be the 
foreigner with the most extensive knowledge of the real situation in 
Myanmar, thanks to his many visits to prisons and camps throughout the 
country. Secondly, the ICRC's experience in its cooperation with the 
authorities would appear to be particularly significant. In 1995 the ICRC 
had left the country because of the impossibility of obtaining acceptable 
conditions to carry out its work. Its return in 1999 had initially given 
rise to a certain number of reservations, especially on the part of the 
opposition and of the NLD. recommendations by means of changes in the 
legislation and the establishment of a credible follow-up mechanism. Ms. 
Suu Kyi wished the mission success and urged it to be firm in its resolve.


Meetings with ambassadors resident in Yangon

The mission outlined the context and objectives of its visit and responded 
as far as possible to the interest that its presence had elicited from a 
number of embassies and diplomatic missions. The clarification provided was 
particularly appropriate as certain media reports seemed to have presented 
it as a fact-finding mission.

In conformity with the mission's mandate, the purpose of its meetings with 
ambassadors was not to collect information on the facts of the situation, 
although certain ambassadors and diplomatic representatives it had met had 
spontaneously voiced their views on the subject. Rather the purpose of 
these meetings was to explain the relevance of the mission to the steps 
that the International Labour Conference would be called upon to take the 
following week, and in which the delegates of all the countries concerned 
would be involved. The object of the meetings was also to hear the views of 
the diplomats concerned as to how the ILO could contribute to helping 
Myanmar realistically and effectively to implement the changes that had 
been called for. The mission heard a broad range of views on all these 
questions - which, for obvious reasons, will not be discussed further in 
this report.


Meeting/discussion with the United Nations
Country Team and specialized agencies
in Yangon

Prior to its departure, the mission had contacted the UNDP in Yangon. The 
Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Yangon, Mr. Patrice 
Coeur-Bizot, organized a meeting with representatives of the United Nations 
organizations and specialized agencies (UNICEF, FAO, UNHCR, WFP, UNAIDS). 
The mission was thus able both to respond to the interest and curiosity of 
its United Nations colleagues regarding an unprecedented development in the 
cooperation between the United Nations and Myanmar, and to learn about and 
compare their respective experiences in so far as they might be of interest 
and relevance to the follow-up to any changes in legislation and practice 
in Myanmar. The representatives of the various agencies spoke very freely 
and the information they contributed complemented very usefully that which 
the mission had obtained elsewhere, especially from the embassies.


Meeting with the ICRC delegate in Yangon

The mission was privileged to have a fairly long meeting with Mr. Léon de 
Riedmatten, delegate of the ICRC. He shared with it his experiences in 
visiting the prisons and camps, where he had been allowed to talk both to 
common-law prisoners and to political prisoners. The ICRC's experience 
seemed to be very much worthy of interest from several points of view. In 
the first place, Mr. de Riedmatten was generally thought to be the 
foreigner with the most extensive knowledge of the real situation in 
Myanmar, thanks to his many visits to prisons and camps throughout the 
country. Secondly, the ICRC's experience in its cooperation with the 
authorities would appear to be particularly significant. In 1995 the ICRC 
had left the country because of the impossibility of obtaining acceptable 
conditions to carry out its work. Its return in 1999 had initially given 
rise to a certain number of reservations, especially on the part of the 
opposition and of the NLD. Yet today its presence was unanimously 
appreciated. The delegate of the ICRC was thus able to explain how he had 
won the confidence of all the parties concerned.


Visit to the Venerable Myatha Sayadaw

Shortly before its departure, the mission had the opportunity of meeting a 
senior representative of the Buddhist clergy. Although the meeting was very 
brief given the limited time remaining, and despite the fact that the issue 
of labour provided upon a requisition order could only be approached from 
the standpoint of doctrine and on no account from the standpoint of facts 
and practice, the mission was nevertheless able to obtain enlightening 
information. In particular, it was pointed out to the mission that where 
voluntary labour was meritorious, an individual could acquire merit only if 
he or she was carrying out this work of his or her own free will.


Conclusions of the technical discussions and
visit to Secretary-1 of the SPDC,
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt

The mission held a meeting on Saturday morning with representatives of the 
various ministries and organizations to wrap up its work.

Both parties realized however that the detailed discussions of a technical 
and legal nature that had taken place during the previous meetings could 
only find a satisfactory solution - or at least result in specific progress 
- if there was intervention at the highest political level. According to 
the institutional structure of Myanmar at present, this level is 
represented by the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) - previously 
known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council - which represents the 
highest authority, holds the legislative power in the absence of an elected 
parliament and exercises control over the executive represented by the 
various ministers. Just a few hours before the mission returned to Geneva 
(Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt had been absent from Yangon on the previous 
days), Secretary-1 of the SPDC agreed, despite his very full programme, to 
meet for talks. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Labour 
also attended the meeting.

Secretary-1 stressed that Myanmar wished to have cordial relations with the 
ILO. He gave a detailed account of the very rapid changes that were 
occurring in Myanmar and which, sometimes, caused certain difficulties. 
Myanmar differed from other countries in many respects. It still had far to 
go to catch up with its neighbours. But Myanmar did not wish to remain an 
"island" among the other States. It wanted to develop relations with its 
neighbours, the international community and the international 
organizations. Discussions such as those that were taking place might make 
it possible to create the basis of trust necessary for this purpose.

The mission thanked Secretary-1 for giving it the opportunity to meet him. 
It expressed its appreciation for the practical arrangements made by the 
authorities and for the freedom that it had been granted to fulfil its 
mandate. The mission had been able to put forward its views with complete 
frankness during the talks and that in itself constituted a certain 
success. This same frank approach was giving the mission a further 
opportunity, during this last talk, to stress at the highest state level 
that the major obstacle in Myanmar's relations with the ILO was the 
existence of a credibility gap - due largely to the Government's attitude 
towards the Commission of Inquiry. To a certain extent, this credibility 
gap was being widened by the arguments put forward to justify the absence 
of progress at the legislative level. If forced labour no longer existed or 
was in the process of disappearing, as had often been stated, amendments to 
legislation that had become obsolete as well as other relevant actions 
should no longer present an insurmountable problem. The in-depth talks the 
mission had had on technical and legal matters had made it possible to 
pinpoint what needed to be done. If appropriate measures were taken on 
these specific points and applied effectively, this would send a very 
strong message to the international community so that it would understand, 
as Secretary-1 had said, that Myanmar did not want to remain an island. 
However, it was up to the Government itself to draw, in full freedom, the 
logical conclusions of its wish to open up to the outside world. The 
mission's role was only to report on any specific and precise measures that 
the Government was willing to take to give effect to the recommendations of 
the Commission of Inquiry. The mission was providing Myanmar with an 
exceptional opportunity to make known its willingness to take a certain 
number of tangible and specific steps to implement the recommendations of 
the Commission.

Secretary-1 thanked the mission for the frankness with which it had 
expressed itself and said that he quite understood what it meant. He 
explained once again in detail the efforts made by the Government to ensure 
the development of the country and to re-establish unity through political, 
economic and social reforms. It had, to a great extent, succeeded in its 
peace efforts with the armed insurgencies. However, because it had been 
isolated for very many years, its infrastructure was extremely precarious 
and the improvements being made could only be gradual. The economic 
sanctions imposed on Myanmar only added to its other problems. Although he 
acknowledged that there might have been recourse to so-called forced labour 
when work was being carried out on the infrastructure, these practices had 
ceased before the ILO report had been completed.

The mission recalled that its mandate was not to discuss the situation de 
facto and de jure described in the Commission of Inquiry's report which, in 
legal terms, now had the force of res judicata. The Government's concern 
with providing for the economic and social development of its country was 
entirely in conformity with the constitutional objectives of the ILO; but 
this objective was, according to the ILO's philosophy, subject to the 
respect of a certain number of basic principles and rights. Each worker 
should have the possibility of freely developing all of his or her human 
potential - and this freedom was also a prerequisite of true economic 
efficiency. Furthermore, it was clear that the economic development of the 
country could be boosted by international cooperation and investment. The 
mission was convinced that a clear and specific commitment on the part of 
the Government to guarantee the full application of the recommendations of 
the Commission could be decisive. If the Conference could be convinced by 
such concrete proof, assistance from the ILO - and, possibly its presence 
on the spot - might be envisaged.

Secretary-1 was confident that the mission would submit a balanced report 
to the Conference. The Government was fully aware that it could not remain 
isolated at this time of globalization. He hoped that the International 
Labour Conference would be guided by considerations of justice and not by 
political preoccupations. Human rights should not give rise to 
discrimination. The mission concluded with its assurances that the ILO's 
procedures provided every guarantee that the matter would be dealt with in 
an objective way. It was, however, up to the Government to give tangible 
proof of its intentions. The mission expressed the hope that this might 
still happen before the work of the Conference began.

Following these talks, as it was taking leave of its hosts three hours 
later at the airport, the mission received a communication from the 
Minister of Labour, addressed to the Director-General. The full text of 
this communication is contained in Appendix 2.