§ 7. Mr. Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Canning Town)If the Burmese regime has responded to the recommendations made by the International Labour Organisation following its recent mission to the country. [129546]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. John Battle)We are deeply concerned about the brutality of the military in Burma, the use of forced labour and the displacement of ethnic minorities.
209 Sadly, the Burmese regime has done nothing to implement ILO recommendations dating from 1998 that relate to forced labour, including women, children and the elderly, despite the recent ILO mission to Rangoon in May.
§ Mr. FitzpatrickWill my hon. Friend continue to make it clear to investors in Burma that the military regime is in breach of ILO and other international conventions and that they should not be helping this outlawed country by doing business with its rulers?
§ Mr. BattleYes. We announced on 17 June 1997 that we do not encourage trade with or investment in Burma. We have suspended financial support for trade missions and trade promotions. In March, I told Premier Oil, the largest UK investor in Burma, that we would welcome its moving out. Any British companies that inquire about trade with Burma are informed of the dire political situation and its appalling human rights record.
We discourage tourism as well. It is not possible to ban people going to Burma, particularly from other countries, but every British tourist who goes to Burma should realise that he or she must exchange about US $300 on arrival, and every one of those dollars will be propping up that murderous regime.
§ Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome)Given the abuses that the Minister has already described, will he continue to stress that message to British companies, including Premier Oil? Will he seek also to persuade the Governments of eastern Asia, especially the Japanese, that the policy of constructive engagement with Burma is not working and that stronger measures are now needed?
§ Mr. BattleThe answer is yes, we are doing that, and we will continue to do so. We have put pressure on the ILO, and, I think for the first time in its history, it has adopted exceptional measures which, if there is no change, will come into force in November. We have made representations, and we have proposed measures to strengthen the EU position. We have co-sponsored UN resolutions, and, with countries in the Association of South-East Asian Nations, we have also made the point forcefully that we will keep up pressure on Burma until it respects the democratic tights of all its people.
§ Mr. Owen Paterson (North Shropshire)Why does the ethical foreign policy apply to Burma but not to China?
§ Mr. BattleIt does apply to China. The small difference is that Burma does not accept that there is even a question of its denying human rights, despite the fact that it is estimated that between 500,000 and 2 million people are refugees within that country. Burma will not enter into a dialogue at all. At least China is prepared to discuss the question of human rights. With Burma it is a shut door.