May 1: Yangon: Military-ruled Myanmar attacked the European Union and the United States on Sunday for depriving thousands of its people of jobs through sanctions.

“The neo-colonialists using their stooges under the guise of workers are resorting to various means to harm the interest of Myanmar and her workers,” junta leader Senior General Than Shwe said in a speech marking Labour Day.

“Their acts of sabotage have tarnished and discredited the dignity of Myanmar workers, and caused loss of jobs resulting in economic and social sufferings,” Than Shwe added in remarks carried in all state newspapers.

Myanmar says more than 80,000 garment factory workers have lost their jobs due to international sanctions.

Than Shwe’s speech came a week after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged him during a meeting in Jakarta to deliver on long-promised democratic reforms, including the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

Myanmar is also under pressure from fellow members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to implement the reforms before it chairs the regional bloc in 2006. The EU and the United States have threatened not to attend meetings with ASEAN under Yangon’s presidency.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party urged the United Nation’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Sunday, meanwhile, to take action against the military government for use of forced labour and its ban on formation of free labour unions.

“We, therefore, would like to call on the ILO to take action under ILO Constitution Section 33 against Myanmar authorities,” said a four-page statement received by Reuters. It urged the junta to work democratically toward a strong market economy.

Yangon and the ILO have been at loggerheads for years in connection with the alleged practice of forced labour in Myanmar.

If found guilty of failing to end the practice of forced labour, Myanmar, which said the ILO’s information is based on fabricated reports by exiled dissident groups, could face more international sanctions.