Forced Labour

Forced and child labour is common in Burma

Widepread Use of Forced Labour

Overwhelming evidence indicates the Burmese military regime enforces a strict system of forced labour throughout Burma. This happens on a widespread scale, affecting forced labourers estimated at more than two million people, and is often accompanied by other violations of human rights such as murder, assassination, torture, beatings, rape, child labour, looting and confiscation of property; in addition to the denial of food, shelter, medical treatment and rest. Men and women of all ages--including children and elderly people--find themselves forced daily to work against their will, without compensation.

Regime's Justification

Even Burmese military leaders admit to the widespread use of "voluntary labour," claiming civilians donate such labour with their full consent for the good of the country. They argue forced labour is a traditional Burmese practice, after they reinterpret pre-colonial practices conditionally sanctioning the use of civilian labour in constructing temples and palaces.

Urban Labour

Forced labour is a strategy of control employed by the military junta to aid its nationwide "development agenda" and to control rebel activity in insurgent areas. In larger cities such as Mandalay and Rangoon, the regime attempts to improve Burma's image for foreign tourists and potential investors by forcing workers to clean pagodas and national monuments. The Burmese people also work on massive infrastructure projects such as road, railway and canal construction, public sector works and small-scale tourism projects. Orders to clear populated areas for construction are common, displacing many families.

Rural Labour

In rural and ethnic areas, people are forced to work on military camps and farms, often growing and cultivating food for the army. Forced labourers also work for the military as messengers, sentries and sex slaves. In particular, forced labour is practised in areas affected by military presence and especially in border areas experiencing on-going fighting. Villagers used as porters of supplies in war zones--including young children and pregnant women--are forced to carry equipment and packs for the army often amounting to more than half their weight. Incidents occur of the Burmese army sending children ahead of soldiers to act as human minesweepers for days and weeks at a time in order to deter counterattacks from opposition groups. The junta exploits child labour in the army, agriculture and other sectors. Many adolescents are forced to work in various army projects for 10 to 15 days per month, and they and their families face severe reprisals for refusing to work. Labour that the regime calls "voluntary" is degrading, backbreaking and inhuman. Workers becoming sick from disease, malnutrition and exhaustion are offered no medical assistance; consequently, many people die whilst completing forced labour assignments.

Recruitment of Workers

The process of forced labour starts with the issuance of orders in writing to village headmen commanding them to gather workers from local communities by a certain date, often during times of harvest, meaning that normal methods of wage-earning are lost. The junta generally recruits labourers by methods of intimidation, coercion and kidnapping. Many potential workers face the threat of fines, arrest, bodily harm and torture.

Penalties for Refusal

If a civilian refuses to work, the penalties include high fines, arrest, beatings, torture, rape and death. Even if a villager agrees to the order of forced labour, these incidents are still common. Women find themselves particularly at risk for frequent occurrences of gang rape by soldiers, many victims being murdered afterwards. One of the main reasons for the massive departure of Burmese nationals into neighbouring countries as refugees and migrant workers is the fear of forced labour accompanied by inability to pay junta-imposed fines for non-compliance with labour projects.

Labour Rights Repression

Burma has one of the most horrendous labour rights records in the world. According to a recent report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur following a fact-finding mission to Burma, the rights to organise, participate and express oneself through nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) such as trade unions or collective bargaining do not exist in Burma, nor do freedoms of protest, expression, association, assembly or political gathering. In Burma today, attempts at dissent are met with violent opposition by the military, and brutally crushed. As a result, the military continually steps up its operations against existing underground trade union structures. The denial of union representation and worker rights in Burma undermines the livelihood of workers throughout the world. Multinational corporations increasingly relocate production to countries with widespread repression of unions such as Burma, in order to cut costs through lower health and safety requirements, working conditions, taxes, wages and benefits.

ILO Actions on Forced Labour

In November 2000, the International Labour Organization (ILO) took the unprecedented action of urging all its members to review their ties with the Burmese junta in response to the widespread and systematic use of forced labour in Burma. In 1955 Burma ratified the ILO Forced Labour Convention No. 29 (1930), agreeing to "suppress the use of forced labour or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period." The Convention defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily."

Recent Actions of ILO

On 9 June 2003, the Director-General of the ILO, Juan Somavia, called on the Burmese regime to take "immediate measures" to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters detained on 30 May following a violent ambush by a mob supported by the military. Speaking to some 2,700 delegates attending the annual ILO International Labour Conference, he urged the authorities in Burma to guarantee the freedom of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, and to continue efforts in collaboration with the ILO to end forced labour in the country. He explained the recent detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi "has created a climate of uncertainty and intimidation" in Burma. He further commented, "We need the appropriate conditions to credibly proceed with real action to end forced labour and to take other steps to benefit the workers of the country." "I am convinced I reflect the opinions of many in this room," he added to applause from the delegates.

ILO Facilitator Established

On 14 May 2003, the ILO and Burma agreed to establish a facilitator to assist possible victims of forced labour seeking remedies available under current legislation as provided under ILO Convention No. 29. This is part of a Plan of Action against forced labour including alternatives to the use of forced labour, a road-building project and awareness-raising.

Companies Profit

Some forced labour occurs for the direct benefit of the army, while other forced labour exists in connection with industrial projects operated by foreign companies. For example, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) charges that the French oil company TOTALFINA-ELF knowingly allows use of forced labour for building roads and other work connected to its Yadana pipeline operation. By allowing the army to use forced labour in order to fulfil the services required by arrangement or contract, TOTALFINA-ELF directly profits from forced labour imposed on civilians by the Burmese army. All members of the ILO have been urged to review their relations with Burma and to take appropriate measures to ensure the junta cannot take advantage of such relations to perpetuate the system of forced labour. TOTALFINA-ELF has clearly failed in these undertakings.

ICFTU Report Findings

Reports from the ICFTU presented to the ILO in October 2002 argue that forced labour in Burma is actually on the increase. The ICFTU report reveals forced labour is regularly, if not always, accompanied by other violations of human rights such as murder, assassination, torture, beatings, rape, child labour, looting and confiscation of property; in addition to the denial of food, shelter, medical treatment and rest. The ICFTU has released details of underground trade union activities in Burma, after it began investigating forced labour in the country over a decade ago. This information includes instances of the regime's on-going attacks on facilities for the Federation of Trade Unions-Burma (FTUB). Other repressive actions include looting food stocks belonging to internally displaced persons, in addition to burning down elementary schools, a hospital and a workshop for disabled workers.

Imprisonment of Union Leaders

Peacefully expressing one's views verbally, through participation in peaceful demonstrations or activities of NGOs, constitutes a criminal offence that can land some one in prison for years. Many prisoners are guilty of simply reading or possessing written materials deemed illegal by the authorities. For example, Khin Kyaw, president of the All Burma Workers' Union, currently serves a 17-year prison sentence for organising workers. Myo Aung Thant, executive officer of the FTUB, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his union activism. Both prisoners reportedly have been beaten and tortured, and their families interrogated and threatened. Aye Ma Gyi, wife of Myo Aung Thant and mother of their two young daughters, serves a 10-year prison sentence for assisting her husband's union activities.

Murder of Union Official

One ICFTU report describes how the army murdered Saw Mya Than on 4 August 2002, an official of both the FTUB and Kawthoolei Education Workers Union (KEWU), and victim of forced labour recruited by the army as a porter. Although his murder took place in the specific context of forced labour, the ICFTU found a direct link between his death and his trade union role. In 2001, the FTUB and KEWU trained Than as a human rights and trade union rights specialist. He became well-known in his area for involvement with human rights, and widely known as an official of the FTUB and KEWU. When the army column he worked for came under attack shortly before nightfall on 4 August 2002, by elements of the ethnic independence movement, the very soldiers forcing Than to work killed him in cold blood as an act of retaliation against his union activism.

Questions

1. What is forced labour, why does it occur in Burma and how might Burma be different today if it did not?

2. What is the International Labour Organization (ILO), and why did it urge all its members to review their ties with the Burmese junta in 2000?

3. What other human rights violations accompany forced labour and why?

4. How do Burmese military leaders justify their use of forced labour?

5. How and why does the military junta use forced labour as a strategy of control?

6. What kinds of tasks do forced labourers complete in larger cities, rural areas and ethnic areas, and for what purposes?

7. What is the job description for porters of supplies in war zones?

8. Why do many people die whilst completing forced labour, what policies could prevent this from occurring and what are their possible results?

9. How does the Burmese regime recruit workers, and what threats do they use?

10. What are the penalties if a civilian refuses to work?

11. Why does Burma experience a massive departure of Burmese nationals into neighbouring countries as refugees and migrant workers, what policies could prevent this from occurring and what are their possible results?

12. Why are the Burmese people not allowed to have NGOs, trade unions, collective bargaining, the right to protest, expression, organise, association, assembly or political gathering?

13. How might Burma be different today if these rights were granted to the Burmese people?

14. Why do multinational corporations increasingly relocate production to countries with widespread repression of unions such as Burma?

15. What are alternative production policies for multinational corporations to follow, and what are their possible results for countries like Burma and elsewhere?

16. What is the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), and what did its report on forced labour in Burma find?

17. Who was Saw Mya Than, why did the army murder him and what might have happened if they did not?

18. What was the direct link between his death and his trade union role?

19. What are alternative labour policies to complete work in Burma, resolve the forced labour problem, improve the treatment of workers and what are their possible results?

20. What policies and actions can the Burmese regime take to solve the forced labour problem and what are their possible results?

21. Why are attempts at dissent to the existing social order met with violent opposition by the military and brutally crushed, and how might Burma be different today if they were not?

22. Why does Khin Kyaw currently serve a 17-year prison sentence?

23. Why was Myo Aung Thant sentenced to life imprisonment?

24. Why does Aye Ma Gyi, wife of Myo Aung Thant and mother of their two young daughters, serve a 10-year prison sentence?

25. What is ILO Convention 29 ratified by Burma in 1955, why has the regime refused to follow it and what might happen if they did?

26. Why did the ILO and Burma agree to establish a facilitator, and what are the possible effects on Burma?

27. What is the ILO Plan of Action against forced labour, and what are its possible results for Burma?

28. Why is forced labour on the increase in Burma?

29. Who "benefits" from forced labour and why?

30. Why did TOTALFINA-ELF allow usage of forced labour for its pipeline operation?

31. What are alternative labour policies to complete work on the pipeline operation, and what are the possible effects on the country and its policy of forced labour?

Activities

1. Complete an assignment on forced labour in Burma. Devise alternative labour policies to complete work in Burma, resolve the forced labour problem and improve the treatment of workers, including the possible results. Devise counterfactual scenarios for how Burma might be different today without forced labour. Compare and contrast Burma's experience of forced labour with that of another country.

2. Organise classroom discussion and debate representing both sides of the forced labour issue in Burma.

3. Complete an assignment on other human rights violations accompanying forced labour.

4. Complete an assignment on how Burmese military leaders justify their use of forced labour. Examine their argument that forced labour is a traditional Burmese practice, after they reinterpret pre-colonial practices conditionally sanctioning the use of civilian labour in constructing temples and palaces.

5. Complete an assignment on how the military junta uses forced labour as a strategy of control to aid its nationwide "development agenda" and to control rebel activity in insurgent areas.

6. Complete an assignment on porters of supplies in war zones.

7. Complete an assignment on the backgrounds, roles and actions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the All Burma Workers' Union, Federation of Trade Unions - Burma (FTUB) and Kawthoolei Education Workers Union (KEWU).

8. Complete an assignment on why the Burmese people are not allowed to have NGOs, trade unions, collective bargaining, the right to protest, expression, organise, association, assembly or political gathering. Examine the effect this has on civic life for the Burmese people. Devise policies and actions the Burmese regime can now implement to resolve this problem. Devise counterfactual scenarios for how Burma might be different today if these freedoms were recognised.

9. Complete an assignment on how multinational corporations increasingly relocate production to countries with widespread repression of unions such as Burma. Devise alternative production policies for multinational corporations to follow, including their possible results for countries like Burma and elsewhere.

10. Complete an assignment on how the military continually steps up its operations against existing underground trade union structures.

11. Complete an assignment on the life and murder of Saw Mya Than by the army. Devise counterfactual scenarios for what might have happened if he was not murdered.

12. Complete an assignment on the lives and imprisonments of Khin Kyaw, Myo Aung Thant and Aye Ma Gyi for union activism. Examine how union activity constitutes a criminal offence that can land some one in prison for years. Devise policies and actions the Burmese regime can now implement to resolve this problem. Devise counterfactual scenarios for how Burma might be different today if these freedoms were recognised, and if Khin Kyaw, Myo Aung Thant and Aye Ma Gyi were not imprisoned.

13. Complete an assignment on TOTALFINA-ELF and its use of forced labour for work connected to its Yadana pipeline operation. Examine similar cases of companies profiting from forced labour in Burma. Devise alternative labour policies to complete work on the pipeline operation, and outline the possible effects on the country and its policy of forced labour.

14. Complete an assignment on ILO Convention 29 ratified by Burma in 1955. Examine why the regime refused to follow it and devise counterfactual scenarios for what might happen if they did.

15. Complete an assignment on the agreement between the ILO and Burma to establish a facilitator. Devise policies and procedures for how this facilitator could be the most effective. Devise counterfactual scenarios for the possible results of the facilitator in Burma.

16. Complete an assignment on the ILO Plan of Action against forced labour. Devise policies for how this plan could be the most effective. Devise counterfactual scenarios for the possible results of the plan in Burma.

17. Complete an assignment on the ICFTU report on forced labour in Burma.

Web Sites
For further information on the incidence of forced labour in Burma, please visit our Links Page.

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