[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
BURMA AT ECOSOC 2001 (1)
BURMA AT ECOSOC 2001 (1)
Geneva, 2 July 2001
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today discussed the
question of whether to put Burma (Myanmar) on its agenda as requested by
the International Labour Conference. The outcome was that Croatia will
chair informal negotiations with interested parties in an attempt to reach
consensus. If consensus is not reached, then there will probably be a
debate and vote -- perhaps 3 weeks into the session, under Item 14 (social
and human rights questions).
DISCUSSION OF 2 JULY
The BELGIAN Presidency of the EUROPEAN UNION made the following statement:
Mr President,
My delegation would like, on behalf of the European Union, to make the
following statement.
The European Union would like the matter of the inclusion of the issue of
forced labour in Burma to be settled in a consensual manner. Indeed, when
the 88th International Labour Conference adopted its resolution which led
to the implementation of Article 33 measures, it approved by a large
majority the actions that had been recommended by the Governing Body of the
ILO. One of those actions was to invite the Director-General of the ILO to
request the ECOSOC to place an item on the agenda of its July 2001 session
concerning the case of Burma.
The European Union is of the view that all the different actions decided by
the International Labour Conference should be implemented until the ILC
decides that the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry have been
fully implemented. Since that is not yet the case, the issue must be
discussed at this year's ECOSOC.
The European Union is not trying to raise the political temperature on this
issue. We merely wish to implement an agreement that the vast majority of
members of this body voted in favour of. In the opinion of the European
Union, the ECOSOC assembly should therefore take note of the dicussion that
took place at the International Labor conference last June, and acknowledge
the decision to send a high level assessment team to Burma in September. We
have the intention to circulate a text that we believe could be the basis
of a compromise that would enjoy the support of the vast majority in this
room. The text does not seek to introduce any new language. It is a low-key
statement of fact. We support the suggestion that the inclusion of this
item be postponed to allow for further consultations and we look forward to
discussing the text with other delegations in the coming days.
CANADA and the USA supported the EU position. Canada added that an ILO
delegate should participate in the discussion.
PAKISTAN and SYRIA opposed putting the issue on the agenda for the current
session, though they said it could be discussed at some time in the future.
The BURMESE ambassador, referring to the "alleged use of forced labour in
Myanmar", said that this is an ILO matter and should be dealt with by the
ILO rather than ECOSOC, that ECOSOC discussion might jeopardise the visit
of the High-Level Team to Burma and that there is no justification for
having the issue on the ECOSOC agenda. He also said this is the first time
such a matter has been put on the ECOSOC agenda by a specialised agency. He
said that discussion should be postponed to a later date to allow for
further consultations, and that his delegation would take part in the
informal consultations.
CHINA said that the question should be excluded from the meeting, that the
ILO has stated that the Government of Myanmar has repealed the laws in
question and invited an ILO mission and has a sincere intention to resolve
the matter, which should be dealt with by the ILO -- ECOSOC's job is just
to examine reports of subsidiary bodies.
CUBA said there is no precedent for this kind of action at ECOSOC, that it
is a bad precedent, and outside the substantive competence of ECOSOC.
[Apart from the EU statement, which I copied from the written text, this
account is from my notes and not an official record -- DA]