Several leading members of Burma’s disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) raised nearly 40 complaints of forced labor, underage recruitment and land confiscation at a meeting with a representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Rangoon on Thursday.Executive member Win Tin told The Irrawaddy that the ILO would cooperate with the NLD members and “will solve what they can.”

Win Tin was accompanied at the meeting by NLD deputy chairman Tin Oo and executive members Than Tun and Nyan Win.

“The meeting was constructive,” said the ILO representative, liaison officer Steve Marshall, in a phone interview with The Irrawaddy on Friday.

Marshall described the NLD members as “individuals” to avoid any political association. The NLD was disbanded in early May after the party decided not to contest the ruling junta’s upcoming election. Its remaining members say the party concerns itself now with humanitarian, rather than political, matters.

“We are always very happy to discuss with Myanmar [Burmese] residents the government policy on forced labor and how they and others can work toward the elimination of forced labor,” Marshall said.

The government is working with the ILO on the issue and and progress has been made in a number of areas, Marshall said.

“But there is still an awful lot more to be done,” he added.

Marshall said that the government has been responding very efficiently and positively to complaints regarding underage recruitment.

“We have had some indications from around the country that the use of forced labor by the civilian authorities [and] the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] is reducing,” said Marshall. “It’s not stopped, it still is an issue, but it is starting to reduce.”

The ILO is the only body officially mandated to tackle the child soldier problem in Burma. It received 80 complaints in 2009, while 70 were recorded between January and May, 2010.