BURMA: MORE ACTION NEEDED ON FORCED LABOR ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000127

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SSTATE FOR EAP, IO AND DRL
DEPT PASS TO DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
PACOM FOR FPA
US MISSION TO GENEVA FOR LABOR ATTACHE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2018
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: MORE ACTION NEEDED ON FORCED LABOR ISSUES

REF: A. RANGOON 125 AND PREVIOUS


B. 07 RANGOON 1143

C. 07 RANGOON 1042

D. RANGOON 113

Classified By: Economic Officer Samantha A. Carl-Yoder for reasons 1.4
(b and d)


1. (C) Summary. According to ILO Liaison Officer Steve
Marshall, the Burmese Government must take additional steps
to address forced labor issues, particularly child soldier
cases. The Ministry of Defense does not adequately punish
recruiters of child soldiers, and the government places an
unfair burden of proof on the ILO and the children to prove
such cases. The GOB has improved coordination with the ILO
during the past month, permitting the ILO to train judges on
forced labor; agreeing to allow the UN Task Force on Child
Soldiers to train up to 600 recruiters on best recruitment
practices; and inviting the ILO to assist with the
application of the National Action Plan on Trafficking in
Persons, which includes provisions on forced labor and child
soldiers. The March ILO Governing Body meeting will provide
an opportunity for the international community to question
the Burmese Government's commitment to addressing forced
labor issues and inquire about concrete steps it has taken to
prevent forced labor and punish perpetrators. End Summary.


More Child Soldier Cases
--------------


2. (C) Although the Burmese Government has taken some
positive steps to address forced labor complaints, it still
has work to do, ILO Liaison Officer Steve Marshall told us on
February 15. The number of forced labor cases, particularly
child soldier cases, has increased in recent months due to
high desertion rates (Ref B). Marshall noted that while the
GOB resolved many of the child solider cases quickly, he did
not feel the military punished the recruiting officers
adequately. Despite pledges to court martial recruiting
officers who enlisted eleven-year old children (Ref C),the
military has yet to do so. Marshall will submit to the ILO
Governing Body a registry of Burmese forced labor cases,
where he will note two cases in which he believes the
government inadequately punished the recruiters. The
Ministry of Defense has the right to determine penalties for
military officers, he acknowledged. However, when the
officers enlist children who are obviously under the age of
16 or work with brokers to take on child soldiers, the GOB
must punish them accordingly and not just place a note of
reprimand in their files, he argued.


3. (C) Marshall stated that with recent child soldier
complaints, the GOB has worked with the ILO to identify the
children and return them to their families. However, the GOB
places the burden of proof on the children and the ILO rather
than on the recruiters, he noted. In cases where the
biographical data on the child differed slightly (name
misspellings, date of birth information off by a day),the
Burmese Government stalls, demanding updated data before it
will pull the children out of military training. The ILO
will seek to address these issues during 2008, Marshall
explained.


4. (C) Currently, the ILO has eight cases pending with the
Working Group: three forced labor cases and five child
soldier cases. Marshall has an additional five forced labor
cases to investigate and assess before forwarding them to the
GOB for action (see below). Additionally, Marshall is
negotiating with the GOB on the outcomes of three technically
closed forced labor cases. Marshall believes that the GOB
has shirked its duties by not punishing the forced labor

RANGOON 00000127 002 OF 003


perpetrators and will make this argument to the ILO Governing
Body next month.

Positive Developments
--------------


5. (C) Marshall noted that in the past three weeks, the GOB
has taken steps to improve cooperation with the ILO.
Marshall told us that after he found out that the Burmese
Government would host a three-week refresher class for 200
judges in Rangoon February 18-March 7, he contacted the
Working Group to offer ILO training on forced labor. Much to
his surprise, the GOB agreed on February 14. Marshall will
provide training on the legal aspects and application of ILO
Convention 29 on Forced Labor, as well as brief on the
Burmese Law on Child Soldiers and Forced Labor. Although the
presentation will be in English, the ILO office prepared
handouts in Burmese to give to the judges. Marshall
considered the training for judges as a positive step.


6. (C) The Burmese Government also agreed recently to work
with the UN Task Force on Child Soldiers, acknowledging the
need for training of recruitment officers, as well as train
the trainers (TOT) courses so the military can train
themselves. In early February, the UN Task Force approached
the government about training recruiters on the proper
recruitment procedures to ensure they do not enlist children.
The GOB agreed and is currently working with the UN Task
Force on the training program. While the GOB has yet to set
the training date, it has designated approximately 600
recruiters for training and has agreed to allow the UN Task
Force to produce a handbook on recruitment and child soldiers
for each participant. Marshall believes the training will be
held by mid-2008.


7. (C) The Burmese Government also recently invited the ILO
to participate in a Ministerial Working Group on human
trafficking, Marshall told us. The government recently
signed a new National Action Plan on Trafficking in Persons
(Ref D),which includes provisions for forced labor and child
soldiers. Police Colonel Sit Aye, the head of the GOB Task
Force on Trafficking, requested ILO assistance in applying
the new provisions on forced labor. ILO Deputy Liaison
Officer Piyamal Pichaiwongse, a human rights lawyer
specializing in children's issues, will attend the March 1
meeting in Nay Pyi Taw.

Trip to Magwe
--------------


8. (C) The ILO is willing to extend the existing ILO-GOB
Forced Labor Mechanism Agreement if the GOB meets certain
conditions, including allowing ILO officers to travel freely
throughout the country and without a GOB liaison officer (Ref
A). Marshall has raised this issue with the GOB on several
occasions, noting that the current agreement guarantees the
ILO free access (except to military-controlled zones).
During his trip to Magwe Division in late January, Marshall
informed the GOB of his trip only two days beforehand and
refused to travel with a liaison officer. After some
negotiation, Marshall and the Deputy Labor Minister agreed
that the liaison officer would not attend any of Marshall's
meetings, but instead would be there to introduce Marshall to
police and township officials.


9. (C) During his trip, Marshall investigated three forced
labor complaints and received two additional ones. Three
cases dealt with government confiscation of land after the
farmers refused to follow the GOB's orders to farm a specific
product. In the other cases, local officials required
farmers to sell their crops to the Burmese Government rather
than selling them on their own. After talking with the

RANGOON 00000127 003 OF 003


farmers and local officials, Marshall found that because the
government instructed the farmers on either what to plant or
how to manage their crops, he could make the case that the
GOB's actions constituted forced labor. He will submit the
cases to the Burmese Government Working Group on Labor in
late February.


10. (C) Throughout the trip, Special Branch police followed
Marshall and his ILO interpreter, he told us. While the
police talked to the complainants after Marshall departed,
the ILO received no reports of police harassment. Instead,
Marshall stated, the police wanted to ensure that he only
talked about forced labor and not political issues.

Comment
--------------


11. (C) The ILO Governing Body meeting in March will
provide many opportunities for the international community to
question about GOB efforts to address forced labor since the
November meeting. While we welcome the recent attempts to
coordinate with the ILO on forced labor and child soldier
issues, we question the GOB's commitment to resolving forced
labor. Failure to adequately punish military officers who
either perpetrate forced labor or enlist children raises
doubts about GOB commitments under the ILO-GOB Forced Labor
Mechanism Agreement seriously. To show real commitment, the
government must address the root causes of forced labor, take
concrete steps to reduce child soldier recruitment, and
punish military perpetrators of forced labor. The upcoming
Governing Body meeting offers another opportunity to specify
the action that the GOB needs to take to halt forced labor.

VILLAROSA