“burma’s children, a generation sacrificed” ituc

8/14/2019 Burmas Children, a Generation Sacrificed ITUC

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"Burmas Children: aGeneration Sacrifced""Overview o the impacto human and trade unionrights abuses on thesituation o children inBurma"

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The International Trade Union Con ederation (ITUC) represents 175 million workers, 40percent o whom are women, in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national a -fliates.

The ITUC is a con ederation o national trade union centres, each o which links togetherthe trade unions o that particular country. Membership is open to all democratic, inde-pendent and representative national trade union centres.

The ITUCs primary mission is the promotion and de ence o workers rights and inter-ests, through international cooperation between trade unions, global campaigning andadvocacy within the major global institutions. Its main areas o activity include trade

union and human rights, the economy, society and the workplace, equality and non-discrimination as well as international solidarity. The ITUC adheres to the principles otrade union democracy and independence, as set out in its Constitution.

_ITUC5 Boulevard du Roi Albert II, Bte 11210 BrusselsBelgiumPhone: +32 (0)2 224 0211Fax: +32 (0)2 201 5815E-mail: mailto:in [email protected]


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ContentsI. Introduction 7

II. Burma: essential data and statistics 8

III. 1962 2009: 47 years o dictatorship 8

IV. Standard o living in Burma 11

4.1) General remarks 114.2) Example salaries 11

V. Education in Burma 1

5.1 Junta policy orces one o the worlds lowest schoolenrolment rates 135.2 Alternative solutions 175.3 Higher education 20

VI. Child labour

VII. Forced child labour or the authorities 26

VIII. Health

IX. Conclusions 32

X. Endnotes 33


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Burmas population is young1: the under 14s represent approximately 25percent o the population2, and the under 18s around 40 percent3. Thecountrys ruling military dictatorship has made no e ort to prioritise childdevelopment and well-being, however. The Burmese government allocatesover 40 percent o the state budget to its army4 when no outside threat exists leaving a mere pittance or such key sectors as education and health care.Consequently, these two public sectors are now seriously underper ormingand are subsidised by citizens themselves, when they are already some o theworlds poorest.

The disastrous economic situation that has resulted rom the policies o Burmassuccessive military governments in recent decades places most parents in aposition where they must rely on their children going out to work to eed theiramilies. The worst orms o child labour are ri e in Burma, whether this is inthe army, domestic servitude, prostitution or elsewhere. Neither are childrenspared the orced labour imposed by the military every day on hundreds othousands o Burmese.

Since the military dictatorship will accept no criticism, it is extremely dangerousto tackle matters relating to social rights, human rights, or childrens rights in

public. The juntas censorship prevents the Burmese media rom publishingreports showing the realities o li e in the country. According to the Assistance Association or Political Prisoners (Burma), there are over 2,100 politicalprisoners in Burma. Among these are thirty or so trade union activists,sentenced to between ve years and li e imprisonment. Many have been, orare still being tortured. This brutal repression o all independent trade unionactivities prevents male and emale Burmese workers rom demanding higherpay, better working conditions, and an end to child and orced labour.

This report aims to provide an insight into growing childrens rights abuses

in Burma, and their relation to widespread trade union rights abuses in thecountry. It ollows rom a survey carried out in Burma during August andSeptember 2009 in which meetings were held with tens o stakeholders in thechild development sector: teachers, parents, children, undercover trade unionactivists, doctors, social workers, international organisations, etc. We wouldlike to thank them or their time, especially since they took a risk talking to usabout the realities o li e in their country. So as not to place these individualsin any urther danger, we have changed the names o those wishing to remainanonymous and, in some cases, we have not revealed the exact location oour meetings.

I. Introduction


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III. 1962 - 2009: 47 years odictatorshipBurma gained independence rom the United Kingdom in January 1948, ollowinglengthy negotiations led by General Aung San, who had been assassinatedsix months earlier. A more or less democratic parliament was established, inspite o action by a number o rebel movements. In 1962, the government wasoverthrown in a military coup dtat led by General Ne Win. The new regimepursued policies under the Burmese Way to Socialism, which led to economicdisaster, coupled with drastically reduced reedoms. In 1987 and 1988, large-scale protests called or Ne Wins resignation. Ne Win retired in July 1988, toolate to put a halt to the popular unrest. A series o demonstrations ollowed,notably that o 8 August 1988 (8/8/88), when soldiers opened re on the crowdo unarmed protestors. We will never know the exact number o casualtiesresulting rom this crazed act o repression, but it is certainly in the thousands.The military remained in power and in September 1988 the newly- ormed StateLaw and Order Restoration Council [SLORC] declared martial law. Abandoningthe Burmese Way to Socialism, it opened the economy to the private sectorand oreign investment.

II. Burma: essential data and statistics

Population: 50 millionCapital: Nay Pyi TawLargest city: Rangoon (renamed Yangon by the military junta)

Area: 676,552 kmGovernment: SPDC (State Peace and Development Council)-dominatedmilitary dictatorshipHead o State: General Than ShweLi e expectancy at birth: emale 64 years, male 59 years

Adult literacy: 84.7% (o cial gure)GDP per capita: $2,704 (Economist Intelligence Unit estimate or 2008)In ant mortality rate (under 1) (2007): 74 Under-5 mortality rate (2007): 103 Urban population: 30%Currency: kyat (1 US dollar = 5.51 kyats at the o cial rate and 1,150kyats on the black market at August 2009)Religions: Buddhism (85%), Animism (5%), Christianity (4.5%), Islam(4%), Hinduism (1%)


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Elections were held in 1990 or the rst time in 30 years. The outcome wasa convincing win or the democratic party (National League or Democracy)ormed by Aung Sans daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, which, in spite o a serieso military manoeuvres, took 392 o the 485 seats. The military ailed torespect this outcome, storming the NLD o ces and arresting its main leaders.Over the 1990s, the dictatorship urther consolidated its position through keyvictories over Karen and Mon rebel groups along the Thai border, and cease reagreements with other ethnic guerrilla groups. Aung San Suu Kyi has beenawarded many highly-prized international honours, including the Nobel PeacePrize in 1991, but has been unable to receive them in person under housearrest. In 1997, the SLORC was restructured as the SPDC (State Peace andDevelopment Council), but in practice nothing changed.

Aung San Suu Kyi was released rom house arrest on 6 May 2002. On 30 May2003, however, during a campaign tour in the north o the country, her convoywas attacked by the regimes militia. Many o her supporters were killed orinjured in the attack. Aung San Suu Kyi managed to escape but was arrestedsoon a ter. She was again placed under house arrest in September 2003.

September 2007 saw a large popular uprising against the military regime,instigated by Buddhist monks and supported by workers, students and civilopposition activists. The protests were sparked by a 100 percent increase inuel prices, which impacted the costs o transport and basic oodstu s. The

movement, known as the Sa ron Revolution, came to an end in a crack-downby the armed orces on 26 and 27 September, resulting in hundreds o deadand injured and the arrests o thousands o people.

In May 2009, the visit o an American tourist to Aung San Suu Kyis residenceled to her reimprisonment. A ter a mock trial, Aung San Suu Kyi was rstsentenced to three years imprisonment and hard labour or breaching theterms o her house arrest, a sentence later reduced to 18 months housearrest. This travesty o a trial was aimed mainly at ensuring that the key gurein the Burmese opposition could play no part in the orthcoming nationalelections, due to be held in 2010.

The election the junta promises to hold in 2010 is one step in a political re ormplan launched in 2003. The pretentiously titled Roadmap to Democracy hasbeen unilaterally led by the military regime, without any real consultationwith political opponents or representatives o ethnic minorities in the country.The junta held a re erendum on a new Constitution in May 2008, just daysa ter part o the countrys south was devastated by Cyclone Nargis, causingover 140,000 atalities. The expectation was that the re erendum wouldbe postponed to allow cyclone victims time to reorganise themselves, butthe military stood rm and re used to receive oreign aid. According to thegovernment, the re erendum saw a 98.1 percent turnout, with 92 percent oregistered voters voting to accept the Constitution. It is nevertheless impossibleto determine exactly how many Burmese really supported this plan becausethe pro-constitution propaganda was so extreme in the weeks preceding thevote.


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The new Constitution contains a number o measures that leave little doubtas to the military juntas intention to remain in power a ter the election. Withinit, 25 percent o parliamentary seats are allocated to the military, as well asentire branches o executive and judiciary authority. It assures impunity or theperpetrators o past human rights abuses and grants the military the right tosuspend all undamental rights in a state o emergency.


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IV. Standard o living in

BurmaFor the purposes o understanding the realities described in this report moreclearly, it seems help ul to provide a brie overview o the standard o living orthe vast majority o Burmese.

4.1) General remarks

According to a report published in April 2008 by the ITUC, a UNDP (UnitedNations Development Programme) survey ound that 95 percent o Burmaspopulation live on less than a dollar per day5 and 90 percent live on less than65 cents a day6. A report on Burmas economy published a month earlier bythe National Council o the Union o Burma7, however, suggests that in early2008 an average amily o our living in Rangoon required close to three dollarsa day to achieve a minimum subsistence level (basic oods and lodging, notincluding schooling, health care costs, etc.).

It is to redress this great discrepancy between the cost o living and averageincome per inhabitant that very many Burmese are orced to send their children

out to work or send a amily member abroad to nd work there. Over 3 millionBurmese have become migrant workers in this way (mainly in Thailand), butthe current global nancial crisis means they have less money to send back to their amilies.

4.2) Example salaries:

When asked their income level, most Burmese quote an approximate dailyamount because they have no xed income and no work contract. Consequentlythey may go several days with no income at all. Below are some examples oadult Burmese worker salaries (1 dollar was worth 1,150 kyats on the black market as at August 2009):

y Female construction worker: 1,000 kyats per day (0.86 dollars)y Farm day labourer: 1,500 kyats per dayy Female worker at small rural actory: 500 kyats per dayy Carpenter in Rangoon region: 4,500 kyats per day, or 1,800 icarpenters assistanty Assistant lorry driver: 2,000 kyats per dayy Worker at small ironworks in Rangoon region: rom 2,500 to 3,500kyats per dayy Fishery worker: 2,000 kyats per dayy Unskilled emale worker at actory in an industrial zone in Rangoonregion: 35 dollars per month ( or 48-hour to 74-hour working weeks)y Qualifed manager: rom 100,000 to 150,000 kyats per month


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The place where you look orward to your husbandcoming back

Many people are without xed employment. On the outskirts o Rangoon,a amily gets up early, prepares ood or break ast and lunch, then theyclean the plates and take them, along with covers, clothes and a mosquitonet, to someone who gives them money in exchange. The ather thengoes to Rangoon with this money to look or work. The mother and childwait or him to come back. When he comes home, i he has enoughmoney to buy back the things pawned in the morning, they can recoverthem. Sometimes the man does not come back, because he is ashamedo not having ound work in town. In one industrial zone, there is a placecalled Lin-Hmaw-Gone which means the place where you look orwardto your husband coming back, because many people go there in themorning to the local pawnbroker.

(From an interview with Maung Maung, General Secretary o the Federation o TradeUnions o Burma, published on the ITUC website at http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.

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V. Education in Burma5.1) Junta policy orces one o the worlds lowest schoolenrolment rates

In theory, under Burmese law schooling is ree and compulsory up to primaryschool ourth standard (only). In practice, an NGO working in the childdevelopment sector in Burma has revealed that 4 million children aged between5 and 13 years were not attending school in 20068 and, according to UNICEF,less than 55 percent o Burmas children ail to complete the primary cycle9. An economist specialising in Burma at Sydneys Macquarie University suggests

that the Burmese education system has deteriorated to such an extent thatilliteracy levels in rural areas are now double those recorded under Britishcolonial rule10.

This disastrous situation can be explained by multiple actors linked directly tothe policies o the military junta. Below is a (non-exhaustive) list o some o themain actors.

A) Spending on state education is ar too low

A report published in 2008 by the ITUC exposes inconsistencies in the way themilitary junta runs Burmas economy: The Burmese government spends 0.5percent o its GDP on health and 0.9 percent on education, ar less than anyother government in the region. By comparison, Cambodia and Laos, amongthe poorest countries in Asia, spend 3.5 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.On the other hand, Burmas de ence budget, at 40 percent o the GDP, is over28 times higher than health and education combined11.

The Burmese military, Tatmadaw, numbers around 400,000 troops, making itSouth-East Asias largest army in terms o personnel. Yet the country enjoyspeace ul relations with every single one o its neighbours. The army has no roleother than to crush opposition orces in Burma and acilitate the running othe country by the junta.

In addition to civilian schools, the SPDC12 has established a primary andsecondary education network exclusively or the children o high-rankingmilitary o cials. Enrolment ees or the cream o these well-equipped schoolsare well beyond the means o most Burmese. In these schools, pupils are taughtthat the army is the countrys saviour, a saviour that must always be obeyed,and never criticised.

B) Piti ul teacher salaries lead to a private lesson-centric system

In the absence o trade union reedoms, Burmas teachers have no option butto accept government pay. In 2007, public sector salaries rose, but were still arrom meeting the rising cost o living. Salaries currently stand at around 27,000


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to 30,000 kyats (23 to 26 dollars) per month or primary school teachers, andaround 35,000 to 45,000 kyats (30 to 39 dollars) per month or teachers insecondary schools.

Faced with salaries which are ar too low to o er them a decent standard oliving, most o Burmas teachers resort to a tuition ee system, which translatesinto private lessons. Most primary and secondary schoolteachers merely touchon theory in normal school hours to encourage pupils to attend their privateevening or weekend classes. Lessons are held at the teachers home or at thehome o a parent. Here, children can ask questions and do exercises.

Pupils whose parents cannot a ord these lessons eel discriminated againstand risk becoming demotivated. The cost o these lessons represents a sizeable

chunk o parents incomes. A pupil at a small state primary will require aninvestment o between 1,000 and 3,000 kyats per month. At lower secondaryschool, ees range rom 3,000 to 5,000 kyats per month, per subject. At uppersecondary school, parents must pay between 10,000 and 50,000 kyats permonth, per subject. Teachers at the best-per orming state schools in majortowns can demand much higher prices, but these schools are only attended bychildren o the most well-o amilies.

Pupils who pay or these lessons are much more likely to pass examinations,either because they are avoured by teachers, or because they have a better

understanding o lesson material, or because they receive exam questionsbe orehand. The vast majority o parents select a ew o the most importantsubjects. Teachers know that not all parents can a ord these lessons, so it ispossible to pass exams without taking private classes, but doing so requiresmore e ort and there is no chance o a high grade, explains one opponentliving in Burma. "Teaching in Burma is mainly by rote. Children taking privatelessons are given the exact wording or the answer to this or that question. Ithey answer exam questions accurately in this way, they are given the highestgrade. I their answer is ormulated di erently they are given a lower grade,even i the content o the answer is in act correct.

This private lesson system is akin to students buying their quali cations. Thepractice is widespread in major towns like Rangoon. Fees vary according to thequality o the school. Teachers count on receiving this supplementary incomestream and, although they might sometimes be unaware o it, they will nottreat pupils who cannot a ord it in the same way, explains a social worker inRangoon. Pressure to adhere to this tuition ee system appears to be lower inrural areas, rstly because o the lower cost o living, and secondly because theinhabitants o rural areas are generally poorer and there ore have less moneyto spend on private lessons. Furthermore, teachers in rural areas may be morecommitted: i they are rom the same village as the children, and i they knowtheir amilies well, they are more motivated towards assisting these children intheir education. This is not so much the case in large towns, where teachersalso run the risk o being trans erred rom one district to another, severing anychance o long-term contact with the community.


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kyats per year to enrol their child and also contribute to subsistence costs orteachers who come to live in the village.

D) Poor quality o teaching

Overcrowded classrooms make teaching di cult and demotivate pupils whorequire support (which also explains the need to resort to private lessons).Classes o ty to seventy pupils are commonplace in Burma, and classes oeighty are by no means unusual. This situation can be attributed largely to apaucity o schools and schoolteachers. According to Education International,where parents have been unable to pay or private lessons, teachers have beenorced to nd other employment14, which exacerbates the teacher shortage.

The paucity o schools is yet more striking at secondary level. In the Pa-Ovillage mentioned above, or example, just one child in teen is schooledbeyond the primary cycle, because the closest secondary school is at Inthein, atwo-hour walk rom the village. In the absence o public transport, most parentsrom this type o village are unwilling to make their children walk these kindso distances. On the one hand, parents are not very aware o the importanceo education themselves; on the other, they pre er to have their children closeby to help them work.

Teacher training also leaves much to be desired, again because the government

does not make adequate investment in this area. According to EducationInternational gures, 24 percent o primary schoolteachers are unquali ed15.We visited a number o the countrys schools, and every time the Englishteacher was called upon to assist communication. None o these teachers wereable to sustain conversation beyond What is your name? or Hello, how areyou? Fine, thank you; not because they are a raid to talk, but because theirknowledge o English is purely theoretical. As already stated, teaching is broadlylimited to reading books and repeating phrases or words rom vocabularies byrote. Failure to make progress causes some pupils and parents to becomediscouraged.

E) Language and education access problems or non-Burmese ethniccommunities

In regions populated by non-Burmese ethnic groups, the o cial language usedin schools Burmese is a major problem since many children and parentsdo not understand it. This method o imposing the Burmese language on thepeople angers ethnic communities and the inability to communicate reelysimply serves to make teachers sent by the government to these villages moredemotivated. In practice, some teachers agree to use the local language orthe rst or second years o the primary cycle, but this is ar rom system-wideand is uno cial.

Every non-Burmese ethnic group aces this issue, but the situation o theRohingya, a Muslim minority group with some 725,000 members living in theNorthern Arakan State on the Bangladesh border, is particularly complex in this

Gender discrimination

As in most developingcountries, parents who areunable to a ord to send alltheir children to school willsend their boys and keepgirls at home or trainingin household tasks. Thisdiscrimination is alreadyreprehensible in itsel butis also to the detriment othe whole o society sinceit is known that the qualityo care given by a motherto her child is positivelycorrelated to her level oeducation.


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respect: Rohingya children may not enrol in state schools beyond the primarycycle because these are reserved or Burmese citizens only. The Rohingya weredenied Burmese citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law. Furthermore,the Rohingyas reedom o movement rom one village to another is severelyrestricted, which prevents very many children rom access to education (not tomention health care).

F) Lack o electricity

Studying or doing homework in the evenings is di cult when there is noelectricity supply. Burmas electricity supply has continued to deteriorate inrecent years, especially since the decision by the junta to trans er the capitalrom Rangoon to Nay Pyi Taw, in the centre o the country. Burmas new capital,

with a mostly state-employed population, is the juntas top priority or electricityprovision, even i this means that other more populous towns and regionshave to go without. In Rangoon, or example, electricity is now available onan area-dependent six-hour rotation basis only, and there are requent powercuts during the six hours in which the supply is supposed to work. Only well-oamilies can a ord a generator supply.

Pushed to the limit, an increasing number o Burmese citizens are speaking outagainst the juntas handling o energy and natural resources. They stress thatBurma is selling natural gas to Thailand and China to generate electricity, but

that it is incapable o meeting the electricity needs o its own people. Accordingto the ALTSEAN network, only 5 percent o the population has access to theelectricity network.16

G) Few acilities or children with disabilities

The Burmese government allocates almost zero budget to educating childrenwith disabilities. Without an education, these children remain a burden ortheir amilies, which intensi es their discrimination. According to EducationInternational data, the government runs just three schools or the blind, twoor the dea , and two rehabilitation centres or children with disabilities. LocalNGOs run our schools or the blind.17

5.2) Alternative solutions

Faced with a glaring lack o public investment in education, the Burmese haveound ways to ensure a minimum level o schooling or their children. Some othe most widespread initiatives are listed below.

A) Monastic schools

Many monks in Burma participate in the social li e o communities. Some haveset up schools where the children o poor amilies can receive an education atnearly no cost, in addition to classes on Buddhism. These monastic schoolsare unded by local community donations, rom wealthy people living in and


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outside these communities. Parents are not required to purchase uni orms.The monastic school system is not widespread, however. In the vast majority othese schools teaching is limited to the primary cycle, but in some cases themonks nd ways to und the brightest pupils through their secondary educationat government schools.

B) Community- unded and community-run schools

In remote regions where there are no schools, some communities have beenable to secure private unding to build them. In some cases the money iscontributed by NGOs. In others, the most well-o residents pool resourcesto build schools. One example is a lakeside village near In Phaw Khone, onInle Lake (Shan State). With no nursery school in the village, young children

remained at home and were cared or by their elder brothers and sisters whiletheir parents went out to work, which was to the detriment o the education othese brothers and sisters. Well-o village residents and a ew outside donorshave recently unded the construction o a nursery school. Each parent pays1,000 kyats per month to enrol their child, which also covers the teachersmodest wage (20,000 kyats per month).

C) Mobile schools or displaced persons in Burma

According to the latest report o the Thailand Burma Border Consortium18,

there are currently over 470,000 internally displaced persons in the east o thecountry (with over one million internally displaced persons in total in Burma),o which at least 75,000 were orced to leave their homes between August2008 and July 2009. Some o these orced displacements can be attributed toSPDC troop tactics o clearing and controlling zones populated by ethnic groupsviewed as hostile to the government. Others are due to development projects.

The global estimate o 470,000 individuals includes approximately 231,000people living in temporary housing in zones run by ethnic groups who havemade cease re agreements with the junta. A urther 128,000 have ollowedevacuation orders and settled in government-designated relocation sites. Themost vulnerable are the 111,000 civilians in hiding in zones most a ected byclashes between the Burmese military and opposition guerrilla groups. Thesepeople try to evade relocation site li e by taking re uge in the jungle, where theymust remain on the move to avoid being captured by government soldiers. Living conditions in the jungle are extremely harsh, but some village-dwellershave success ully started up mini-schools which ollow them as they move.They choose the best-educated villagers to teach children basic knowledge andthe alphabet. Non-governmental organisations send brave militants into the jungle with packs containing medicines and basic school materials that theydeliver to displaced persons.19 These jungle schools demonstrate the desireo the Burmese people to give their children a minimum level o education, evenin the most extreme circumstances.


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5.3) Higher education

University students played an important role in the 1988 protests which called

or the return o democracy. Since then, they have been a source o ear orthe SPDC generals, who have done everything in their power to prevent civiluniversities rom unctioning normally.

In the past universities were closed or a long period, but they are currentlyopen. However, there is a large shortage o teaching sta in the sciences andoreign languages, because these sta pre er to work in the private sector orabroad, where they can earn more.

The dictatorship eared that these new sources o dissent would grow, and so it

established aculties ar away rom each other, and some were a long way romurban centres. As these aculties do not have accommodation acilities thatstudents can a ord, students spend large amounts o time on public transport.In Rangoon, or example, aculties are at least 15 km rom the centre, and ittakes 90 minutes to reach them by bus. This means that students waste atleast three hours each day on crowded public transport.

Given the di culties that the government has imposed on civil universities,and the restrictions on enrolment in military institutes, some students haveenrolled in university courses via distance learning, but these o er practicallyno opportunity or active learning. From time to time, these students go tothe aculty or intensive classes over a limited period, two weeks or example,but or the rest o the time, their classes and exercises are done via distancelearning, explained an opposition supporter living in Rangoon. However,virtually no distance learning students do the exercises alone; everyone payssomeone to teach them. Just as in the rest o the Burmese educational system,i students pay or intensive lessons, they pass the exam.

Several Burmese universities organise this type o distance learning course,which remains cheaper than a ull year o university study. Enrolling on thesecourses costs 20 dollars, explains a student who lives 20 km away romRangoon. The next three months are only costing me 5 or 6 dollars per month(the price o transport to go and etch lessons and exercises) and last month Ipaid 50 dollars or intensive lessons.

In many cases, this system is less expensive than traditional university courses,in which the charging o tuition ees is widespread, and these ees can bearound 80,000 kyats per subject per year. Students seem, however, to be lessobliged to submit to this system than in primary and secondary education,but or the wrong reasons. The government has instructed the universitiesnot to ail many students, whatever their results, in case there is a revolt orprotest, continued the opposition supporter rom Rangoon. The percentagerequired in order to pass the exam depends on the average result. At leastthree quarters o students pass, even i this means the pass mark has to be setat 35%! Teachers nd themselves alone against the system, and they have notrade union protection when the authorities put pressure on them. Last year a


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VI. Childlabour As a result o the poor economic climate engendered by the militarydictatorships policies, adult incomes are not enough to guarantee survival ormost households. Burmese society has always entrusted some tasks to children(e.g., helping parents with the harvest, etching water rom a well, looking a teryounger siblings) but in the current situation many children do not have theopportunity to go to school and work rom a very young age.

The Burmese government is not taking any credible action against child labour,even in its worst mani estations, which are widespread in this country. In addition,Burma has not rati ed ILO Convention 138 concerning minimum employment

age, or Convention 182 on the worst orms o child labour (however, it did rati ythe International Convention on the Rights o the Child in 1991).

In law, 13 is the minimum employment age, but this is not en orced, and thesavage repression o any trade union organisation promotes this lack o respector the law. Very o ten, workers are not aware that there are laws that canprotect them, and laws banning the youngest children rom working.

The main sectors in which children work in Burma are the ollowing (this listis not exhaustive and sectors are not listed in the order o number o children

working in them):

A) Agriculture

70% o the Burmese population lives in rural areas, in which the population arealmost all involved in growing crops or raising livestock. It is rare that childrendo not help their parents in the elds or with the livestock. The same is trueor shing amilies. The level o involvement varies rom amily to amily, anddepends on income levels, proximity o schools, parents motivation to see theirchildren educated, among other actors. Levels o child involvement increasegreatly when men are conscripted by SPDC troops or orced labour.

B) Work in tea shops and catering

Tea shops (small establishments that sell tea, outdoors or inside) and smallrestaurants employ a large number o children. In towns, they o ten employyoung people rom rural areas or deprived suburbs. The small chairs on theirterraces are Burmese peoples avourite place to sit with a cup o tea. Day andnight, they go there to chat, and are served by children. Several anecdotalaccounts tell o servitude as payment or a debt: children appear to be employedby these tea shops because their parents were not able to pay back a debt toa loan shark.

Some employers impose inhumane working schedules on these children. Iwork 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, or 10,000 kyats per month, says Min, achild o 11 who works in a tea shop near Bogyoke Market in Rangoon. Other


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markets, explains Zaw. Some all into the hands o rival criminal gangs, andit is very hard or them. Foreign men who walk around some large hotels inthe centre o Rangoon are regularly approached by pimps o ering girls o allages, including underage. According to the American State Department reporton human rights in Burma22, oreign diplomats have noticed a large number oprostitutes in late adolescence, and some brothels seem to have o ered youngvirgin girls in exchange or large sums o money.

Although the situation o exiled Burmese children is not the subject o this report,we cannot ignore the sordid exploitation that some experience, in particular interms o prostitution. O 110 underage children in an institution in Mandalay23,27 were girls aged between 15 and 18 who had been tra cked to southernChina, either or marriage or orced prostitution, con rms a Mandalay social

worker.

However, migration, even illegal migration, should not be con used with humantra cking. O the more than 3 million Burmese migrants who have fed miseryand repression to nd opportunities abroad (mostly in Thailand), only a minorityhave le t the country by alling into the hands o human tra ckers. However,this does not mean that the others were able to emigrate and work underdecent conditions24.

E) Small businesses

The streets o Burmese towns are ull o small businesses, some o which areeven on the pavements. Here one can buy clothes, oods, electrical equipment,etc. Many children help their parents in such businesses, or operate themthemselves or their amilies. Very young children can also be seen sellingsouvenirs, postcards and ood in towns and tourist destinations when they aresupposed to be at school.

F) Domestic work

In Burmese towns, many domestic posts are held by children rom villages.Some are recruited via agents who travel around rural areas asking parents toentrust their children to them. They promise a bright uture or these children,and then sell them into sectors such as domestic work.

G) Small-scale industry and cra ts

There are ew businesses in Burma, but those that do exist, i they do notproduce directly or export, do not care much about the age o their workers.The banning o trades unions, the ine ectiveness o employment legislationand the near-total lack o workplace inspections mean that employers havea lot o reedom. In the lakeside village o Nampan, or example, in the Shanregion, a small cigarette actory employs eight emale workers, the youngest owhom is only 13. Their salary is 560 kyats. They work between 8am and 6pm,with a one-hour break at midday.


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o ce in Rangoon in its report to the ILO Council o Administration in November200927.

The huge use by local authorities o orced labour, land con scation andextortion make Burma one o the last eudal countries in the world. Theproblem is that the regimes mindset has not changed, says Maung Maung,secretary general o the Federation o Trade Unions Burma (FTUB). It wantseveryone to think that it is doing everything it can to ght orced labour, but it isnot, in act, mentally prepared to stop using it, as it is not only to its advantageon the ground, but also on a psychological level: i someone can be persecutedby a person in a green uni orm, it means that the latter is superior. Forcedlabour is also, there ore, a way o telling soldiers that by wearing the uni ormthey become members o the ruling class. It was seen once again during the

recent military o ensives against ethnic groups in Karen, Kachin and ShanStates, and last August against the Kokangs: all the military equipment had tobe carried by villagers.28

Recent reports con rm that minors are still among those civilians who areorced to carry military equipment or the Burmese army and allied armedgroups29. In zones in which the Burmese army is ghting armed rebel groups,civilians are o ten orced to march in ront o the troops, ostensibly in order toguide them; in reality, everyone knows they are used to clear the path i thereare antipersonnel mines.

Use o orced labour has decreased in some regions, but it is o ten replacedand/or complemented by extortion or land seizures. These reduce parentsalready meagre incomes, and this means they can no longer und educationor healthcare or their children. In Mon State, or example, a human rightsorganisation reports that on 3 July 2009, in Ye canton, light in antry battalionnumber 343 orced the inhabitants to undergo military training or one day orpay a ne o 6000 kyats30.

There is another example rom the Inle Lake region, in Shan State: The useo orced labour has allen sharply over the last two or three years in myregion, but the extortion continues, in more subtle ways, explains one o theinhabitants o a lakeside village. In April, or example, the local authoritiesdemanded that each amily pay several thousand kyats, supposedly to plantricinus communis (castor oil plant) by virtue o a national programme drawnup by the government, which hopes to make natural uel or it. In the villagesinhabited by educated people, passive resistance was more or less organisedand people didnt pay much, and have su ered no retaliatory measures thus ar.Paradoxically, it was in the poorer villages, where the people are less educated,that the authorities were able to collect up to 10,000 kyats (9 dollars) peramily, because people were very ear ul o the threats.31

Individual case o orced labour o children in the army

Burmese legislation outlaws enrolment o children under 18 in the armedorces, but underage children continue to be recruited. Thousands o children


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According to the report by ILO-Rangoon, it appears that the increase in thenumber o complaints can be attributed to the act that the Burmese people arenow better in ormed about their rights (even though they are in general poorlyin ormed about their rights, particularly in rural areas), that there has been astrengthening o the network o those who can help people complain to the ILO,and that the population is now more inclined to complain.

As or the Burmese authorities, there has been a re usal to make examplesby punishing those who have recruited children into the army. Some armyrecruitment agents and some soldiers have been accused o recruiting childsoldiers, but in most cases they have only been reprimanded. The worstpunishment that has so ar been given or recruiting child soldiers has beendocking one months salary rom an o cer. The authorities put more e ort into

punishing deserting child soldiers. We were involved in the case o a ormerchild soldier who deserted eight years ago. Despite so much time havingpassed, he was still being pursued. The authorities went to his home to arresthim and he was imprisoned or desertion even though his recruitment wasillegal! We were able to secure his release rom prison, but there are manyother cases like this one, says Steve Marshall37.

Outside the regular army, several armed groups, allied to or against the junta,also resort to recruiting child soldiers.


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VIII. Health According to UNICEF statistics or 2007, or every 1000 children born in Burma,74 will die be ore their rst birthday and 103 will die be ore they reach 5years old. The vast majority o these deaths are caused by lack o access tohealthcare and medical knowledge. The poor state o education and o thepublic healthcare system are directly responsible or this situation, whichcould be remedied i the Burmese government provided the necessary moneyinstead o wasting State unds on military expenditure. According to globalhealth statistics published by the WHO, just 1.5% o Burmese governmentexpenditure is spent on health38. In 2007, the government spent 0.7 dollars per

person on health39

. The WHO puts the Burmese healthcare system at number190 (o 191) in the world40.

Malnutrition obviously makes it more likely that children will die. Accordingto UNICEF, around one in three children under 5 su ers rom serious ormoderate growth retardation or ailure to gain weight. Appallingly low wages,poor agricultural management, land seizures, orced labour, and the weaknesso healthcare are some o the actors responsible or malnutrition amongchildren.

The report on the Burmese economy, published in 2008 by ITUC41, alsocriticised the way in which the government distributed health budgets, as thisrein orced the dread ul existing social inequalities: military run hospitals arethe best in the country, while civilian hospitals are poorly unded and unable torespond to rampant HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. I the generals ear thatlocal treatment is below the standard they and their amilies need, they fy toSingapore to be treated in some o Asias most expensive private hospitals.

According to WHO data, the public healthcare system has 6 hospital beds, 4doctors, 10 nurses or midwives and less than 1 dentist per 10,000 inhabitants(in comparison with 9, 5, 12 and 1 respectively or South East Asia as a whole).Geographic distribution o medical in rastructure is very uneven. Border areas,where a large number o ethnic minorities live, are very deprived in comparisonwith the Rangoon-Mandalay axis. A great many villages have no medicalacilities within a two-hour drive.

The existence o a public hospital is not a guarantee that patients will be treated:given the extreme impoverishment o most o these hospitals, patients mustbuy medications and medical equipment when they go there (using their owntransport, given the lack o ambulances and even o roads in some areas). Eveni appointments are supposed to be ree, doctors have to be paid i patientswant to be treated in hospitals: just like other Burmese workers, doctors donot have any trade union rights, and they there ore cannot negotiate salariesthat would enable them to survive. Doctors generally have a private clinic in thesame town, and only go to the public hospital when a patient can pay. Somedoctors do have a sliding payment scale depending on their patients level


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o poverty. According to most reports collected in August 2009, a doctorsappointment costs around 1500-2500 kyats. To this has to be added the costo treatments prescribed by the doctor, or injections given (between 500 and2000 kyats per injection).

For every 100,000 deliveries, there are 380 maternal deaths42. Many womenpre er to avoid giving birth in hospital, because o the cost and the poor qualityo care. They have to allow 80,000 kyats or the delivery, and between 200,000and 500,000 kyats i an operation is required. Faced with costs that are soridiculously high in comparison with incomes, most women give birth at home,where they are assisted by people with varying levels o quali cations, such asmidwives or traditional birth attendants. This system is not in itsel bad, i theassistants really are quali ed, and i it is possible to get to hospital quickly i

complications arise, but the policies o the military junta mean that this is notthe case. Thousands o Burmese children will have to live their whole lives withthe consequences o delivery in such poor conditions.


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26 See report concerning orced labour in Union View no. 15, available athttp://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pd /VS_Burma_EN.pd .27 Source: Developments concerning Burmese government application oconvention 29 on orced labour, 1930 [Faits nouveaux concernant lexcutionpar le gouvernement du Myanmar de la convention (no 29) sur le travail orc,1930], document submitted to ILO Council o Administration, available athttp://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relcon /documents/ meetingdocument/wcms_116954.pd28 Quotation taken rom an interview with Maung Maung, published on theITUC website at http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article4355&lang=en29 See, in particular, http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/khrg09b4.html30 Source: http://rehmonnya.org/archives/99931 Account taken rom Union View #15, available at http://www.ituc-csi.org/

IMG/pd /VS_Burma_EN.pd32 The ALTSEAN network (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma) reportsestimates o around 70,000 children in the Burmese army, which would makeit the largest recruiter o child soldiers in the world. ALTSEAN is a network oorganisations and individuals based in ASEAN member states, which worksor and supports the human rights and democracy movement in Burma. Seewww.altsean.org.33 See http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/khrg09b4.html34 Quoted in Union View #15, available at http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pd / VS_Burma_EN.pd

35 Developments concerning Burmese government application o convention29 on orced labour, 1930 [Faits nouveaux concernant lexcution par legouvernement du Myanmar de la convention (no 29) sur le travail orc,1930], document submitted to ILO Council o Administration, available athttp://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relcon /documents/ meetingdocument/wcms_116954.pd36 Quoted in Union View #15, available at http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pd / VS_Burma_EN.pd37 Quoted in Union View #15, available at http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pd / VS_Burma_EN.pd38 Source: http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS09_Full.pd39 Source: A preventable ate: The ailure o ART scale-up in Myanmar,MSF, November 2008, available at http://www.ms .org/source/countries/asia/ myanmar/2008/PreventableFate/PreventableFatereport.pd40 Source: http://www.actioncontrela aim.org/nos-missions/nos-missions-dans-le-monde/birmanie/ 41 Rich pickings: how trade and investment keep the Burmese junta aliveand kicking, ITUC, 2008, available at http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pd / BirmanieEN.pd42 Source: http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS09_Full.pd


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