Towards Freedom and Dignity in Myanmar, 2023
Following the military takeover on 1 February 2021 the UN’s International Labour Organisation established a Commission of Inquiry concerning the non-observance by Myanmar of its conventions on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, and on Forced Labour. This is its report.
The Commission found evidence of ongoing egregious violations of the two Conventions. Its recommendations urge the military authorities to immediately cease all forms of violence, torture and other inhumane treatment against trade union leaders and members, and unconditionally release all trade unionists arrested, sentenced and detained in relation to the exercise of their civil liberties and legitimate trade union activities.
The Commission concluded that there has been continuing systematic and widespread use of forced labour, and urges the military authorities to immediately end all forms of forced or compulsory labour, and any forced recruitment into the military, including of children.
Forced labour in Myanmar (Burma), 1998
In 1996 the International Labour Organisation appointed a Commission of Inquiry to examine the observance by Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention.
A complaint by 25 Workers’ delegates to the ILO alleged that, far from acting to end the practice of forced labour, the Government of Myanmar was still engaged actively in its promotion, so that it was an endemic abuse affecting hundreds of thousands of workers who were subjected to the most extreme forms of exploitation.
The Commission’s 1998 report concluded that there was abundant evidence showing the pervasive use of forced labour imposed on the civilian population throughout Myanmar by the authorities and the military for portering, the construction, maintenance and servicing of military camps, roads, railways and bridges, work on agriculture, logging and other production projects, and a range of other tasks.
The Commission made recommendations requiring action to be taken by the Government of Myanmar without delay, but observed that the restoration of democracy was an indispensable prerequisite for the suppression of forced labour in Myanmar.