Posted on 11/03/2005 11:56:27 PM PST by ZayYa
The following draft of the blueprint attempting to address not only the current situation between the government of Union of Myanmar and International Labor Office but also the issue of forced labor in Myanmar: -
1. The ILO liaison officer ad. Interim continues to carry out his functions in Myanmar. ILO does not continue, in its Conventions and Conferences, receiving the reports of those who are neither delegates of a member state nor representatives of the member country concerned, the Union of Myanmar, effectively denying the due respect to Myanmar.
2. The Joint Plan of Action which originates from the specific recommendations in the report of the High Level Team as in ILO document GB/282/4, which was developed by Myanmar and ILO after many intensive discussions and was scheduled to commence on July 1, 2003, will be implemented as it was agreed upon before July 1, 2003.
3. In accordance with the mutually-agreed Joint Action plan, the pilot project will be implemented in the first year with the focus in Myeik District in southern Myanmar.
4. ILO Liaison officer ad Interim or the other officers of his office may receive complaints, make inquiries but they may not “take action”, violating the sovereignty of the Union of Myanmar.
5. Therefore, the facilitator, as it is already agreed between ILO and the Union of Myanmar, would review complaints, put forward those he assumes as true to the Ministry of Labor of the Union of Myanmar and the Special Coordination Committees and task forces which are formed in accordance with ILO’s suggestions to address the concerns ILO puts forward.
6. If the good officers of ILO judge that they cannot trust the officials of Government of the Union of Myanmar or her judicial institutions and their intentions or their judgment regarding the issues of forced labor, there would be no point to request from their part for the cooperation from the Government of Union of Myanmar or even to continue its activities in the country.
7. During the time of pilot project, the good offices of ILO in Burma would use exclusively its own findings – those either by ILO Liaison Officer Ad. Interim or the staff employees of his good office – in the semi-annual reports presented at the International Labor Conference and other ILO-related functions or in the reports to the relevant authorities of ILO such as the Director-General and the Governing Body. That is to say that the ILO and its good officials discontinue the use of information furnished by the anti-government entities.
8. However, characteristically, this does not imply that ILO officials must refuse the information provided by the anti-government entities. For the specific cases, alleged by the anti-government entities, the ILO Liaison Officer Ad. Interim or the staff employees of his good office must make their personal inquiries and specifically mention the details in ILO’s communication to the Ministry of Labor of the Union of Myanmar. Absent of their personal findings -- human or material witnesses – from the part of its good officers whom it should trust more than others, ILO must not categorize the alleged cases as forced labor under the presumption of guilt against the Government of the Union of Myanmar.
9. In order to be able to effectively carry out the pilot project of the Joint Action Plan, the office of ILO Liaison Officer Ad. Interim can increase the number of its officers in the existing ILO offices in Myanmar and in the new office of pilot project in Myeik District. The number of employees and their individual appointments in the office of ILO in Myanmar would be in accordance with the existing (and/or future) understandings between the ILO Liaison Officer and the Ministry of Labor.
10. If the pilot project and other components of the First Year of the Join Action Plan are found acceptable, even if not satisfactory, ILO will, at the end of the first year, suspend for one year the measures taken in accordance with its 2000 resolution.
11. At the beginning of the Second Year, the Join Action Plan, after completion of its pilot project, is to be extended to the other regions of the country, as appropriate.
12. At the end of second year, if ILO finds the cooperation of Myanmar authorities unacceptable, ILO may terminate its presence in Myanmar.
13. If the Government of the Union of Myanmar finds ILO’s report unfair, its content unfounded or its policies unacceptable, Myanmar may terminate its cooperation with International Labor Office.
14. The continuation of Myanmar’s ILO membership plus the continuation of ILO’s offices and Joint Action Plan in Myanmar, implies that ILO, however insufficient it may be, find the cooperation of Myanmar authorities with regard to forced labor acceptable. Given ILO’s judgment that its mission and presence do help the people of Myanmar with regard to forced labor issue rather than its mega-phone criticism and involvement in the issues unrelated to its mandate, thus, ILO will remove its measures taken in accordance with its 2000 resolution.
15. The continuation of Myanmar’s ILO membership, the Joint Action Plan, the presence of ILO Liaison Officer in Myanmar, the continuation of the suspension of measures taken by ILO in accordance with its 2000 resolution, could also be done on the basis of yearly review if that is agreed by the ILO and the Union of Myanmar.
Well, that settles that.
"You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me."
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