UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed a recent agreement between the International Labor Organization and the government of Myanmar on forced labor.
The accord establishes a complaint mechanism for victims of forced labor in the former Burma.
In a statement welcoming the development, a spokeswoman for Ban, Michele Montas, said Tuesday the mechanism "has been a longstanding request of the International Labor Conference and the ILO governing body."
In addition, U.N. Undersecretary-General Ibrahim Gambari underlined the importance of the step during his recent visit to Myanmar in the context of the secretary-general's good offices.
The ILO has been dealing with the issue of forced labor in Myanmar and in November 2006, the agency's governing body adopted a resolution requesting "the government conclude with the ILO such an agreement as a matter of utmost urgency and decided to place on the agenda of its March 2007 session a specific item to enable it to move on legal options, including involving the International Court of Justice," which is the U.N.'s highest legal tribunal.
