Although corporations are now investing in Burma, opportunities for economic growth must be balanced with protections for working people, Burmese political opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said last week. Speaking at the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conference in Geneva, Suu Kyi was joined by U Maung Maung, general secretary of the General Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB), who spoke about the long struggle for freedom of association and the freedom to organize in Burma.

The ILO voted last week to reinstate Burma as a member of the organization because it believes the administration of reformist President Thein Sein is making sufficient human rights progress. Burma has not been an ILO member for 13 years. The organization has pressured Burma for years to eradicate forced labor, which continues to be widespread in the country. Although it is a welcome advancement that the international institution will be re-engaged in the country, there are many remaining threats to the Burmese people, and to Burma’s security, which Suu Kyi emphasized in her speech. As Suu Kyi noted:

• Burma still does not have an ILO-compliant legal framework for freedom of association or adequate protection for Burmese workers from corrupt government officials and the industrial bottom feeders that want to exploit cheap labor and extract resources in Burma.
• The records of companies seeking to invest in Burma must be scrutinized so the exploitation of workers and resources can be avoided.
• Burma needs laws covering outside investment.

She also stressed the need to give hope and support to the millions of migrants living and working in Thailand, who wish to come home and are part of Burma’s working class and underscored the necessity of addressing unemployed young workers, whom Suu Kyi fears are losing faith in society.

Suu Kyi co-founded the National League for Democracy in Burma, an opposition group to the military rulers, which won the 1990 general election in a landslide vote. When the military rulers refused to let the democratic government serve, she was placed under house arrest. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights, which she finally received Saturday in Norway.

While Suu Kyi welcomed the resolution to allow resumed membership for Burma that will enable the ILO to work in the country, which has committed to eliminating forced labor by 2015, she noted the importance of strong democratic institutions that guarantee human rights and good governance. Her remarks, and calls for democratic-friendly growth, come as tensions remain high between Muslim and Buddhist communities in the western area of the country, challenging President Sein’s new government.