AFP-MAIL : ILO-Myanmar,sched

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Despite what Reuters (12 June) and AFP (13 June) may have written,
there was no discussion or voting on Burma in the ILC Selection Committee on
Monday 13th.

Monday's meeting was simply a technical meeting to approve the draft report 
of
the Committee's  debate on Burma of 7, 8 and 9 June and to take any amendments
to statements   made in that debate from the people who made them.  The report
also contains  the  text of  the draft resolution approved on Friday and 
the Malaysia/
Indonesia/ Philippines "counter-proposal" which was not considered by the 
Committee
since it directly opposed the draft resolution which was overwhelmingly 
approved.

This report, as edited and amended, will be the principal document before the
Conference when it meets  tomorrow (Wednesday 14 June) to discuss and decide
on the draft resolution,  which would impose a  number of punitive measures
(recommended by the ILO  Governing Body last March) on Burma, to come into
effect on 30 November 2000, unless  Burma has in the meantime carried out the
recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.



At 09:29 AM 6/13/00 +0200, topic@xxxxxxx wrote:
>ILO-Myanmar,sched
>    ILO body votes to put pressure on Myanmar over forced labour
>
>    GENEVA, June 13 (AFP) - An International Labour Organisation (ILO)
>committee Monday voted to pressurise Myanmar to stop using forced labour,
>according to ILO sources here.
>    After intensive discussion over the weekend, the ILO drafting committee
>voted by an overwhelming 33-4 in favour of the text condemning the Myanmar
>junta.
>    The resolution, which goes to a full vote Wednesday, gives the junta a
>grace period up to December to comply.
>    It was approved despite opposition from some Asian nations, led by
>Malaysia, which wanted to rule out any measures to put pressure on Yangon.
>The
>final wording, with the delayed action, was seen as a compromise.
>    The countries which voted against it were China, Japan, India and
>Malaysia.
>Three other countries abstained in the committee was made up of national and
>trade union and employer representatives.
>    The workers' representatives, the European Union and the United States
>argued strongly for the adoption of a mechanism to oblige ILO members to
>re-examine their relations with Yangon in a bid to pressurise the ruling
>junta
>to end all forms of forced labour, notably by the Myanmar army.
>    No exact measures were spelled out.
>    An ILO technical committee visited Yangon in May when employment minister
>Tin Ngwe assured them the junta was prepared to cooperate to ensure forced
>labour was not practised in Myanmar.
>    The text of the resolution said that so far there had been no movement to
>improve the situation in Myanmar.
>    The Myanmar delegation slammed the vote as "unacceptable" and warned it
>risked "wiping out all the benefits obtained by the (ILO) technical mission."
>    The resolution goes before a full ILO plenary session on Wednesday. If it
>is approved there, then the measure allows for a grace period until November
>30 for Myanmar to get its house in order.
>    At that time the ILO's governing body will meet and decide whether the
>intentions expressed by the employment minister are translated into
>"sufficiently concrete" measures by the government.
>    If not, then the resolution will be put into effect, with members
>reporting
>back to the Geneva-based organisation on their actions to review relations
>with Myanmar.
>    Those hoping to see the measure passed on Wednesday are concerned that
>there may not be the necessary quorum of more than 50 percent of delegates
>around to vote. Wednesday is the penultimate day of the conference here and
>some delegates will already have left.
>    In Monday's ballot only 40 delegates voted, with 10 countries absent.
>    Mynanmar was condemned for widespread use of forced and compulsory labour
>by an ILO commission of inquiry in 1998 and the issue of what follow-up
>action
>to take has proven one of the hottest subjects at the conference here.
>    jlv/pvh