ILO, Myanmar in discussion over high-level mission ( AFP ) October 24, 2002


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ILO, Myanmar in discussion over high-level mission

YANGON, Oct 24 (AFP)

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said Thursday it was in talks with Myanmar's junta over sending a high-level mission to the country to implement programs aimed at eliminating forced labour.

"What has happened is there has been discussion between the ILO and the government of Myanmar on the possibility of sending a high-level mission to Myanmar, but these discussions have not yet concluded," the ILO's liaison officer in Yangon, Hong-Trang Perret-Nguyen, told AFP.

Myanmar is widely condemned by the international community for its use of forced labour. A 1998 ILO inquiry found the practice was "widespread and systematic" and targeted ethnic minorities living in border regions.

"There is a possibility that a mission would take place but the dates and the agenda of the mission are not finalised," Perret-Nguyen added."The subject of the mission, or what the ILO has in mind, is a discussion or finalisation of some plan of action or program to implement the decisions of the government of Myanmar to eliminate forced labour."

An earlier statement issued by the military inferred that the mission had already arrived, but a government official told AFP Thursday that they had merely agreed to an ILO proposal for a mission.

"The main thing is that we agreed to their visit," he said, adding that they were now deciding on a date.Perret-Nguyen told the Myanmar Times this week that while the government had taken important steps to eradicate forced labour, more needed to be done.

"Some very important steps have been taken by the government, in terms of issuing orders, instructions and circulars, but those circulars and orders have to be complemented and supplemented by more specific instructions and then they have to be implemented," she told the semi-official weekly newspaper.

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