Submission to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for consideration at the International Labour Conference 2012.... "...Despite the reform agenda pursued by the Government of Myanmar and the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the ILO and the Government aiming at the elimination of forced labour by 2015, there has been little progress toward this objective in North Arakan and no effective measures have been implemented there to eradicate forced labour. Forced labour continues to be widely and systematically practiced in North Arakan and little has changed for the Rohingya population. A decrease in forced labour has been observed in certain areas, where Garrison Engineers took control of some infrastructure projects and employs paid labour. However, villagers in other areas continue to receive regular orders to work on road construction, in NaSaKa and Army camps, as sentries and porters, without remuneration and facing penalties if they do not comply, as in past years. Myanmar has yet to take concrete steps to implement two recommendations of the 1998 ILO Commission of Inquiry and to translate formal commitments into realities on the ground in all regions of the country. In the view of the Arakan Project, it would therefore be premature for the ILO to lift the measures imposed under Article 33 of its Constitution. It is also too early for governments in the region to consider initiating a repatriation programme of Rohingya refugees as long as forced labour remains a major cause for flight..."