Populace notified to say No Force Labor to ILO

Populace notified to say No Force Labor to ILO

S.H.A.N.'s northern Shan State source reported this morning that a meeting was recently held in a Shan town close to China where the people were instructed to inform the International Labor Organization that forced labor had been terminated. 

The source said an ad hoc meeting was called on Sunday, 30 September, in Namkham, 129 miles north of Lashio, which village and quarter headmen in the township attended. Captain Tin Maung Win, the township officer, told the meeting he expected the arrival of the ILO fact-finding team in a few days and wanted the headmen to oversee that all went well. "We want you to instruct the people in your charge to tell the ILO there is no forced labor," he reportedly said. 

He also warned the headmen not to use loudspeakers or any public address systems but to go on a house-to-house tour to relay his instructions. 

In addition, each headman was to observe and report to the township office without fail the following: Who the ILO team met, what questions it asked and what answers were given, the time of its arrival in the respective village or quarter and its departure. 

Until yesterday (3 October), village and quarter councillors were still going in and out of homes to "convey the wishes" of the authorities, said the source. 

The ILO is currently in Shan and Kayah (Karenni) states.

Update 7 October 2001

The ILO did not visit Namkham.