Ministers defend Myanmar, reject trade link to labor standards
Ministers defend Myanmar, reject trade link to labor standards
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Southeast Asian labor ministers urged the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Friday not to punish Myanmar over forced labor, saying it is doing all it can to stamp out the practice.
Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), winding up a two-day meeting, also reiterated opposition to any linkage between trade and labor standards.
They said the global economic slowdown threatens to undermine the region's recovery from the 1997/98 financial crisis and called for their countries' workforces to move up-market to reduce vulnerability to downturns.
The labor ministers' meeting was the first since the ILO voted in November for sanctions against Myanmar, citing evidence of forced labor, including the military forcing civilians to work as porters in mine-strewn insurgency zones.
The Geneva-based ILO has urged all 175 member nations to impose sanctions and review their dealings with Myanmar to ensure they are not abetting forced labor. But the body left it up to individual governments, organizations and labor unions to determine what they will do.
"The ASEAN position is that the Myanmar government has implemented various steps both in terms of issuing directives and legislative action to resolve the problem," said Malaysian Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn.
"They have assured other members they are working as hard as they could (to resolve the problem).
"So we hope the ILO will view these actions positively and support the Myanmar government in resolving this problem and will not subject its people to any punitive action," Fong told a press conference.
Myanmar's government last year issued a decree making forced labor illegal.
But the New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged that the decree was issued only to avoid international criticism and cited refugees who claimed the practice still existed.
Myanmar has long been assailed by the United Nations and Western nations for suppression of democracy and its human rights record, which includes the use of unpaid civilian labor on infrastructure projects.
Ministers from the 10-member ASEAN on Friday met their counterparts or senior officials from Japan, China and South Korea.
The ASEAN ministers asked the East Asians "to give their support in seeking the understanding of the ILO" on the forced labor issue when the labor body meets next month.
Asked how improvements in Myanmar can be verified, Fong said the ILO had sent two missions and he felt it could send more if necessary.
Fong also said ministers noted an "increasing tendency" by international organizations to link labor standards to trade. He said ministers accepted that labor conditions should be improved.
"But linking the two together would impose a burden on some of the other (ASEAN) countries who are still not in a position to comply."
Ministers noted that Southeast Asia's traditional cheap labor advantage is being eroded in the era of new economies and said the region must now work on upgrading skills.
This should also become part of a strategy to cope with economic downturns, they said.
Efforts to narrow the digital divide, expand education in information and communications technologies and continuously upgrade workforce skills "would enhance the long-term competitiveness of the region and reduce its vulnerability to economic downturns."