Since 1962 state-sponsored forced labor has been a persistent and daily problem for the people of Burma. The United Nations estimated in 1999 that the military junta compels over 800,000 Burmese into forced labor. In Burma this generally relates to labor-intensive programs like agriculture production and road projects for military units, however it also includes sexual and military services. While the international community has taken actions to counter these crimes in accordance with the Forced Labor Convention of 1930 and the Abolition of Forced Labor Convention of 1957, working with the military regime has made progress difficult.

One of the main stumbling blocks to progress is that the highest prevalence of forced labor is found in the poorer or most remote areas of Burma, where the international community has little to no access. Eyewitness accounts have detailed the requisitioning of villages by local authorities to farm lands confiscated by the state, provide sentry duties for military units, and work on road, bridge, railroad, and military barrack construction. Other accounts have provided testimony of quota systems used for year round service in the villages. Although forced labor is officially illegal, imprisonment is used as the primary threat for noncompliance with various forms of torture and even killings as alternate modes of forced cooperation.

In their 2005 Global Report the International Labor Organization determined that effective progress against forced labor in Burma would be impossible given the climate of repression and the absence of a political will to clamp down on the military and local authorities prospering from the forced labor. The ILO has been following the situation closely since 1998 and their actions have included the appointment of a permanent Liaison Officer to maintain contact with government officials, the translation of Administrative Orders prohibiting forced labor into six ethnic languages, and agreement on a Joint Plan of Action in 2003 between the government and the ILO. Since 2005 the Joint Plan of Action created to provide redress assistance to the victims of forced labor, set up an awareness campaign, and implement a pilot program to strictly enforce the prohibition of forced labor in a special focus region has failed to move forward.

Watch Witness’ Video Entrenched Abuse: Forced Labor in Burma