UN agency to look into allegations of forced labour in Myanmar

The governing body of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) has decided to send a high-level mission to Myanmar to look into allegations of the use of forced labour in that country.

Concluding its 291st session last Friday in Geneva, the ILO board issued a statement saying it was necessary to send a mission to Myanmar because there had been "changes in the Government." It noted that the officials who were involved in negotiations with the ILO on the issue of forced labour were "no longer in their jobs."

The ILO said it believes that the mission's finding will make it easier for the governing body to draw a final conclusion on the issue of forced labour when it meets next year in March.

"There are several outstanding questions relating to the allegations of forced labour, which the ILO liaison office has transmitted to the authorities," said the statement. "The governing body considered that the response to particularly worrying cases will demonstrate the extent of the current government's will to solve these matters."

The statement indicates that after making its judgment on the issue of forced labour, the ILO will ask its member nations to review their economic and other relations with Myanmar.

Meanwhile, considering a report issued by an ILO commission of inquiry, the governing body concluded that the trade union movement in Belarus "has been and continues to be the subject of significant interference on the part of Government authorities."

The commission recommended immediate restoration of trade union organizations involved in the complaint and the elimination of all obstacles to the right to organize. It set 1 June 2005 as deadline for compliance with most of the recommendations.

Considering a report by its Committee on Freedom of Association, the ILO strongly urged the Columbian Government to take necessary steps to eliminate violence against trade union leaders. The Committee said last year it received complaints about 42 murders, 17 death threats, three abductions and 11 arrests.

On the question of the right to organize for public servants in the Republic of Korea, the Committee urged the authorities there to ensure that all public servants fully enjoy the right to establish and join trade unions.