国际组织动向－国际劳工组织就缅甸通过强制劳动法发出警告

 

ILO Warns of Sanctions Over Burma's Forced Labor¹ Practices

 

The International Labor Organization has warned the Burmese military junta² to end forced labor or risk triggering sanctions from ILO member states. The group's governing body has told the Burmese government it has to act soon.

 

The International Labor Organization has given Burma, also known as Myanmar, a last chance to take concrete action to end forced labor. Francis Maupin is the special adviser³ to the ILO director-general. Mr. Maupin says the ILO member states have run out of patience with Burma.

 

Maupin: The general view of the governing body is that the wait-and-see attitude which had been adopted by most members since 2001 because there was progress, because there had been a step-by-step progress until now. This wait-and-see attitude is no longer justified⁴. Why? Obviously, because the last developments, including the visit of the high-level team, seems to indicate that progress is no longer possible.

 

A high-level ILO delegation⁵ cut short a mission to Burma last month after being refused permission to meet with a senior official to discuss forced labor. In its resolution, the governing body condemns⁶ the refusal and says it casts grave doubt on the usefulness of the ILO approach.

 

In 2000, the ILO took the unprecedented⁷ step of calling on its members to impose sanctions against Burma because of the government's failure to end forced labor. In 2001, the vast majority of countries withdrew their sanctions because they believed Burma was taking some concrete steps to improve the situation.

 

But Mr. Maupin says Burma has failed to make much progress and has repeatedly backtracked on its promises to do better. He says the resolution gives the members wide-scope for action.

 

Maupin: It leaves open to all the members the possibility to do what they feel appropriate. That is again a fact that the United States did not wait for the ILO to take any special measure to ask them to do this or that. They did it all by themselves.

 

Mr. Maupin is referring to the so-called Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 2003. That act includes a ban on all imports from Burma.

 

He says the governing body has given Burma's military rulers until early June, when the ILO holds its annual conference, to show that it is serious about eradicating⁸ forced labor.

 

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.

 

注释：

trigger [5tri^E] v. 起动

concrete [5kCnkri:t] adj. 具体的

adopt [E5dCpt] vt. 采用

impose [im5pEuz] vt. 强加

scope [skEup] n. 范围

eradicate⁹ [i5rAdikeit] v. 根除

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

9 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。