§ Lord Corbett of Castle Valeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What response they have made to the call by the International Labour Organisation for member states to bar all investment in Burma. [HL1117]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos)The ILO has not requested that its members ban investment in Burma. It did however recommend in December 2000 that members should review their relations with Burma to ensure they do not contribute to the continuance of forced labour there.
In 1997 the European Commission suspended GSP trading privileges for Burma in response to member states' concern about forced labour. In January 2001, David Blunkett, the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment, wrote to all UK employers and workers groups asking them to review their relations with Burma to ensure they were not contributing to the continuance of forced labour. We do not encourage trade or investment in Burma. We offer no assistance for companies wanting to invest or trade there. We have told the UK's largest investor in Burma, Premier Oil, that we would like it to cease operating in Burma as fully and as soon as it legally can.
A high level team from the ILO visited Burma last month to assess the current situation. I look forward to learning of its assessment when the report is published later this month.
§ Lord Corbett of Castle Valeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What recent representations they have made to the Burmese military regime over human rights abuses against the Karen, Karenni and Shan people. [HL1118]
§ Baroness AmosWe take every opportunity to register our concerns about all political and human rights abuses in Burma through our Embassy in Rangoon and visiting officials, although our contacts with the Burmese regime are naturally limited. We also make our views known through the EU and by supporting resolutions at both the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights.