VIDEO ADDRESS

TRANSCRIPT OF DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI’S VIDEO ADDRESS
TO THE
GENERAL SYSTEMS PREFERENCES HEARINGS

Brussels, Belgium, 22nd September 1996 (VHS Pal copies available)
Produced by the IMAGES ASIA HUMAN RIGHTS DESK

The great majority of the people in Burma live in a constant state of fear and insecurity. Forced labour is only one of the fears with which we have to cope. If the European Union can do something to alleviate that one fear, that will be of great help to us. We have to struggle for our own cause. We know that it is up to us to achieve democracy, but in this day and age the help of the international community means a lot, and in the name of a common humanity we look to you to help us as far as you can.

Types of forced labour - portering.

This is a term which refers to people who are taken by the armed forces to work for them to carry their arms, their rations, and in many cases it has been clear they are used as human mine fields [sweepers]. They go ahead of the troops so that if there are any land mines, those land mines will blow up under them and therefore they clear the way for the troops. So portering is one of the worst feared things on Burma. People loose their health and even their lives if they are taken to do a stint of portering. And then, of course, there is the other kind of forced labour which is working on local projects. There in villages and in towns people are told you turn out on such a day and you help with building bridge, road, dike, and if they don’t participate in the forced labour projects they are fined.

Types of forced labour - Forced Labour Projects.

Practically all roads built by the government used forced labour. Roads, bridges, clearing of jungle - all this needs forced labour because there is no other way the government can get these done. And we do not have the kind of machinery that will enable us to get these kind of projects away quickly. So its human power that we need, man power, forced labour. Its very wide spread these days and it is being carried out systematically with the knowledge of the authorities (because it is the local authorities who organize these forced labour projects). Historically of course, we have had forced labour in Burma. I think, historically, there has been forced labour in almost every country where there is a government that is totally in control of the country and which can do whatever it likes with its people.

Can we talk about the Burmese practice of ‘Loke-a-pay’?

‘Loke-a-pay’ is just a euphemism for forced labour. Its not voluntary labour. It pretends to be voluntary labour but there is nothing voluntary about the kind of labour in which we have to participate under threat. I have actually seen slips of paper that the local law and order restoration councils distribute to the people in which they say you are "invited" to come at such and such a time to take part in such and such a project, and if you do not turn up you will be fined or there will be dire consequences. They are threats in this so called invitation. If they fine you because you do not go, it is no longer voluntary. If it is voluntary you go if you wish to, if you do not wish to go, you do not go. But its not like this at all; if you fail to turn up then you’re either fined or in some places you’re even arrested for a short time as a lesson to others.

Types of forced labour - Children

To your knowledge have young children or teenagers also been used as forced labour in Burma?

Yes, very much so and increasingly so, because the families are getting increasingly poorer, which means that the parents cannot get time off from earning their living so they send the children to take their place in the forced labour projects. As I mentioned earlier, if you don’t take part in a forced labour project you are fined. That is to say each house hold that fails to send one person to participate in a forced labour project has to pay a certain sum of money. And since the people are already so poor they can’t afford that sum of money so they send their children to take their place.

Village Act, 1907

Section 12 of the Village Act, 1907 states: If any person residing in a village refuses or neglects to perform any of the public duties imposed upon him by this act or by any other rule thereunder he shall, in the absence of reasonable excuse, the burden of proving which shall lie upon him, be liable, and therefore the penalties.

But what is important is that in this original Village Act it says ‘in the absence of reasonable excuse’, and such things as having to gather in the harvest, or needing to work on the fields would have been accepted as reasonable excuse. Nowadays this law translated in Burmese has left out the phrase ‘in the absence of reasonable excuse’. So under this law, the authorities are able to force the people in the villages to do anything they like and to punish them in accordance with the so called law. With respect to farmers, if you are taken away at a time when you should be sowing, or when be reaping, when there is something that you have to do on your farm its a disaster. But the authorities do not accept that. Its so brutal, its as if they do not seem to care or they do not seem to be aware of the fact that by forcing people to take part in their projects the are, in some circumstances, they are leading those people to starvation. They don’t feed them, mind you, people have to come to forced labour projects with their own food and their own water.

If you go into forced labour and you get sick are medicines provided?

No, nothing is provided; if you’re not getting food and water would you get medicines and bedding? You have to provide everything yourself. You provide the labour, you provide everything else. In some places, theoretically, you’re supposed to be paid for the labour that you provide but whether you are paid or not depends very much on the whims and fancies of the powers that be.

Forced labour: links to tourism

With the current ‘Visit Myanmar Year’ campaign that is being launched by the government, is it feasible that the tourism industry itself may be linked indirectly to beautification projects or the clearing of roads?

Well, I’d say more than indirectly. In some cases: very, very directly, especially when it comes to beautification because the want to make the country appear prosperous and pretty. So the roads have to be rebuilt, bridges have to be built, sites have to be cleared away. Of course this is not really forced labour, but I might as well mention in passing that people are removed from their old houses where they have lived for generations in order to clear the place up and to make it attractive for the tourists. So forced labour projects and the suffering of the people of Burma are more than indirectly linked to tourism.

Workers rights in Burma

I think there was a law which came out in 1964 and this is supposed to protect workers, but you know we do not have Trade Unions in Burma. So this law merely remains on the books. That law of course dealt with things like maximum hours, minimum wages, compensation for disability and so on, but this does not apply at all these days, and particularly it does not apply to factories which are run by foreign companies. Foreign companies run their factories in any way they like; there is nothing to protect our workers.

G.S.P procedure of the European Union

Can we just begin by your acknowledgment of the European Commission G.S.P inquiry into forced labour in Burma?

Yes, I do know that hearings have been going on and that the European Union has been taking an interest in forced labour in Burma for some time.

What potential impact might G.S.P sanctions have both upon the government and what possible negative impact may it have upon the common people in Burma?

It will not have much of an impact on the common people of Burma, but it will have an impact on those who are involved in business with foreign companies. Now those who are involved in business with foreign companies actually happen to be the most privileged group in the country. So our assessment is that it will only effect those who are best off and most privileged. It will not in any way effect the people who are really suffering. I’m sure that G.S.P P sanctions would play a very large part in hastening democratic reform in Burma, because I think too many people are ignorant of the fact that this regime looks upon any form of cog-operation as endorsement of their policies. So if they think that the Economic Union is prepared to co-operate with them in terms of trade, business, investment, even though they are oppressing their people, then their conclusion is that the Economic Union does not care what they do to the people so they will go on doing it and worse. We do not think that it is a good idea for anybody to co-operate in anyway with a regime which is mistreating its people like this. So to give preferential treatment to any government that is mishandling its people, that is totally ignoring the rights of its people, is to encourage injustice and oppression. So we think the Economic Union should take a good hard look at what is going on in Burma, and we would like them to understand that the people of Burma need all the help that they can get.