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."