ILO urges Myanmar to ban forced labour

Myanmar should ban all forced labour and punish the perpetrators, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said.
Survivors of the Burma cyclone are reportedly being sent to labour camps. After the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, the military has relocated tens of thousands of survivors from the Irrawaddy Delta, including many who had sought shelter in Buddhist monasteries.
Ko Hla Min, a 35-year-old farmer who lost nine relatives in the cyclone, said survivors around the devastated town of Bogalay were used as forced labour. “They have to break stones at the construction sites,” he said. “They are paid US$1 a day but are not provided with any food.”
About 80,000 survivors had sought sanctuary in schools and temples in the town of Labutta, which was left in the devastation of cyclone. There are only about 20,000 are believed to remain after military relocated.
The ILO urged Myanmar to make a statement that the exaction of forced labour is prohibited and violators will be prosecuted and convicted.
Sources: Thomson Reuters, 31 May 2008; The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 2008