On March 23, the International Labor Organization (ILO) asked the Burmese Government “to transmit to the Office, without delay, the draft law on Labor Organizations currently under preparation so as to allow a full and meaningful consultation.” The request came after a June 2010 complaint sent to the ILO regarding Burma's violations of conventions regarding freedom of association and the rights of workers and others to organize. The complainants said that that there “is no legal framework to ensure freedom of association and, in practice, trade unionists are severely persecuted, including through the violation of their basic civil liberties.” The Burmese government labels the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma as a terrorist organization, with union figures among the country's more than 2100 political prisoners.
In the complaint against the Burmese government lodged at the ILO, ten union-affiliated political prisoners were mentioned. In response, the Burmese government told the ILO that the detainees are all criminals, in keeping with the official position that there are no political prisoners in Burma.The Burmese statement added that the prisoners are all being well-treated and are in good health. However the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) told The Irrawaddy that some of the names listed in the ILO documentation are in poor health and have been denied medical treatment in the various prisons across Burma where they are jailed.
According to the ILO statement, there are many forced-labor abuses taking place in Burma, such as “the exaction of forced labor by the civilian authorities and by the military, prison labor, forced labor related to the right to land use/occupancy, trafficking for forced labor and forced labor associated with both formal and informal sector commercial activities.” ILO says that “during the period from 21 October 2010 to 21 February 2011, a total of 127 new complaints were received, bringing the total number of complaints received since the inception of the complaints mechanism to 630.” However, in a cautionary note, the ILO says that the government complaints concerning forced labor do not appear to be given the same level of priority as those about underage recruitment into the army, citing “ considerable delays being experienced before any response is received.” The ILO lamented that “in the case of complaints concerning the armed forces, the responses that are received usually make reference to voluntary community work or to citizens’ duties, or do not accept the complaint as genuine.”