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Statement by His Excellency U Wunna Maung Lwin , Ambassador / Permanent Representative of the Union of Myanmar at the 300th Session of the ILO Governing Body
14
November 2007
Mr.
Chairman,
I thank you for giving me the floor.
Since this is my
first statement in the ILO Governing
Body, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to you on your
assumption of duties as the Chairman of this Governing Body.
I also wish to assure you, Mr. Chairman, the fullest cooperation of my
delegation in discharging your responsibilities.
I
am fully confident that with your wisdom, knowledge and
able stewardship, our deliberations
will come to a successful conclusion.
Allow me to take this opportunity to extend my tribute to other members
of the Bureau.
Mr.
Chairman,
The Government of the Union of Myanmar has been cooperating with the
International Labour Organization to resolve the issues relating to the use of
forced labour in Myanmar. Time and again ,the Government has shown its sincere
cooperation and willingness to accommodate gestures made by the International
Labour Organization to eliminate the practice of
forced labour in the country.
In this regard, may I recall a significant matter which is one of the
tangible results of the cooperation between the Myanmar Government and the
International Labour Organization. That is the Supplementary Understanding.
Mr.
Chairman,
Allow me to dwell briefly
on that significant matter again. As all of you are well aware , a
series of negotiations were conducted between the Permanent Mission of Myanmar
and the International Labour Organization after the 297th Session
of the Governing Body held in November 2006. In the course of the positive and
productive negotiations, both side demonstrated positive attitude and utmost
patience which led to a successful conclusion of a Supplementary Understanding
signed between Myanmar and the ILO on 26 February 2007.This agreement sets up
the mechanism to deal with complaints of forced labour.
The Governing Body welcomed this significant outcome as reflecting the
sincerity of the Government’s cooperation with the ILO. This mechanism
demonstrated the genuine commitment and political will of the Government of
Myanmar in order to eradicate forced labour completely in the country.
The
Office of the United Nations Secretary-General issued a statement on 27
February 2007, in which United
Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon commended an agreement reached between the
International Labour Organization and the Government of Myanmar on the
establishment of a complaint mechanism for
bona fide victims of
forced labour.
The signing of the Supplementary Understanding and the establishment of
the complaint mechanism is not only for receiving complaints but also taking
actions on those who committed forced labour. Therefore, Myanmar authorities have taken prompt legal
actions against those who committed forced labour and these actions
were publicized in the national media.
These legal measures send
a clear message that there is no climate of impunity in existing legal system
in Myanmar.
Moreover, the Myanmar authorities have given special emphasis on the
translation of orders into the various languages of national races in order to
promote public awareness on the elimination of the practice of forced
labour in the country.
Mr.
Chairman,
As you all know, in demonstrating the spirit of positive cooperation
with the ILO and in support of the functions of the ILO Liaison
Officer in Yangon, the authorities concerned in Myanmar has also
positively responded to the appointment of Mr. Stephen Marshall as the Liaison
Officer a. i. in Yangon and he is
now receiving the facilities and courtesies that have been provided to Mr.
Richard Horsey, former ILO Liaison
Officer in Yangon.
The
ILO Liaison Officer a.i.
has been able to travel through the length and breath of the country
and to see the situation on the ground. He has been able to assist the Myanmar
authorities in screening and processing complaints about the alleged use of
forced labour.
A
recent joint field visit of the
Ministry of Labour and the
ILO Liaison Officer to Rakhine State from 27 to 30 August 2007 had proved the
Government’s willingness to implement the Supplementary Understanding.
Both sides met
with the local authorities
and people
and talked
about forced
labour including
the implementation of the
Supplementary Understanding for
their awareness
raising on
eradication of
forced labour. The
significant progress has
therefore been
made in
the implementation
of the Supplementary Understanding.
As
regards the complaints of the alleged use of forced labour, the Myanmar
authorities are also cooperating fully with the ILO Liaison Officer a.i. in
dealing effectively with such
complaints. In addition, the
Myanmar authorities consider and take appropriate actions on complaints
communicated by the ILO Liaison
Officer.
According
to the Register of cases of ILO Liaison
Officer, there have been ( 56
)complaint cases of allegation of requisition of forced labour since
February 2007. Out of ( 56 )
complaints, ( 19 ) are not related to the mandate of Supplementary
Understanding ; ( 5 ) had been
closed after assessment determined insufficient basis to proceed ; ( 9
) are still being assessed or cannot
proceed until further information is received from the complaints ; and ( 25
)had been duly
assessed and formally submitted to the Minister for Labour, in his capacity as
Chairman of the Working Group on
forced Labour.
Of
the ( 25 ) complaints submitted to the Minister for Labour, (11 ) had
been legally processed and necessary
actions had been taken against on
those who committed forced labour and the other ( 14
) are still pending for the
findings of the Working Group’s investigation.
Mr.
Chairman,
May I take this opportunity to apprise this House of the observation of
the Government of Myanmar on a
particular case concerning Min Aung received from the ILO Liaison
Officer. In this regard ,
I wish to clearly state Min Aung was sentenced into (2) years imprisonment for
organizing to insult the religion
with malicious intents under Criminal Code 295 (A ).
The case was
taken action in accordance
with the existing Myanmar laws. It solely fall
within the jurisdiction of the country. Therefore, it should not be
considered as major breach of Article 9 under the Supplementary Understanding.
Mr.
Chairman,
Let
me now turn to the document GB.300
/ 8. Paragraph 11 of which mentioned about the case of the so-called six
labour activists .
Although,
this case is not related to the Forced Labour Convention, I wish to offer
the following
clarifications for
information :
·
In fact,
the so-called labour activists including Thurein Aung are neither
workers nor work at any factory or workplace;
·
They were arrested not for
holding May Day event. There were
many May Day events held nationwide by various organizations but no one was
arrested for holding those events;
·
They
have been charged with
offences under Section 124 ( A ) of the Penal Code for inciting hatred
or contempt for the government, Section 17 ( 1 ) of the Unlawful
Association Act, 1908 for being a member
or contacting an Unlawful
Association and Section
13 (1 ) of Immigration ( Emergency ) Provision
Act, 1947 for illegally leaving and
re-entering the country ;
·
The above-mentioned laws
do not impair the obligation concerning the Convention No. ( 87 ) ,
Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Rights to Organize ;
·
They
were taking instructions
and receiving financial
assistance from the
Federation of
Trade Unions
of Burma
( FTUB ), which is
notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the
Government of the Union of
Myanmar as an unlawful
association and terrorist
group by issuing notification
Nos. (3 / 2005 ) dated 28 August 2005
and ( 1 / 2006 )
dated 12
April 2006 respectively,
and instigating the workforce for instability
according to the instructions of
the FTUB;
·
Bombing
and terrorist acts committed by
Federation of Trade Unions of Burma ( FTUB ) were uncovered in Myanmar in June 2004.
FTUB supported financially
and took part in these terrorist acts and supplied explosive materials
to cause the several instable situations
in the country. These terrorist acts are forbidden
by the International Convention
for the
Suppression of Terrorist Bombing and
International Convention for
the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism; and
·
FTUB
does not represent any workforce in Myanmar
although it has taken the name of Burma. I would like to reconfirm that
it is a terrorist group in the guise of a worker’s organization
and the six persons were taken action because of joining and
cooperating with the terrorist group.
Mr.
Chairman,
Since
we regard the conclusions adopted
by the Committee on the Application of Standards at the
96th International Labour
Conference in June 2007 as great importance
and as the good gesture of the continued cooperation between Myanmar
and the ILO, the Ministry of Labour was also agreeable to grant the issuance
of two months entry visa to Ms. Pichaniwong from Bangkok ILO Office on
official mission status to assist the Liaison Officer a. i. internally and the
visa had been extended to another period of three months upon
request.
The
Deputy Minister for Labour who has now been appointed as Minister for Labour
received the ILO Liaison Officer,
Mr. Stephen Marshall on 21 July 2007 and
17 September 2007 respectively. They
discussed and exchanged views
on the ongoing implementation of
the Supplementary Understanding.
Mr.
Chairman,
In
view of the positive developments I already apprised to this House, I would
like to state that the signing of the Supplementary Understanding is the
concrete effort of the Government of Myanmar to fulfill the most important
point raised in the conclusions of
the 297th Session of the ILO Governing Body held in November 2006.
The
on-going cooperation between the Government of Myanmar and the ILO
such as setting up the complaint
mechanism and the appointment of a new ILO
Liaison Officer in Yangon is progressing
well. This has proven convincingly that the mechanism of dealing with
complaints is already working smoothly and effectively in Myanmar.
Mr.
Chairman,
In
conclusion, I would like to state that Myanmar has shown its political will
and flexibility and cooperation which, I believe, are the best solution to
resolve the forced labour issues in Myanmar. I would,
therefore, like
to reiterate
that Myanmar has been cooperating and continue to do so in a
constructive spirit with the ILO in the future with a view to eradicating the
practice of forced labour in the country.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
