ASEAN intensifies campaign efforts for migrant workers’ rights

ASEAN intensifies campaign efforts for migrant workers’ rights

Source:  ASEAN Secretariat

CHIANG RAI, 14 February 2019 - ASEAN Senior labour officials gathered for the 12th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW) on 12-14 February 2019 in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

To keep the momentum going since the adoption last year of the Action Plan to Implement the ASEAN Consensus, the committee reviewed its work plan and noted results and progress of its completed and ongoing projects.  These include the ASEAN safe migration campaign, study on portability of social security for migrant workers, repository of legislations and policies on migrant workers, migrant worker rights-based employment contracts, reintegration programme for returned migrant workers, capacity building of labour officials on trafficking in persons, and labour market information systems on mobility of workers.

The committee discussed its medium-term priorities until 2020 highlighting the areas of governing mechanisms of labour mobility, social protection of migrant workers, protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers, and labour dimension of trafficking in persons. Post-2020 priorities focusing on the implementation of the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers were deliberated including the conduct of self-assessment of implementation of ASEAN Consensus that will be conducted by ASEAN Member States this year.

Recognising the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation and cross-sectoral collaboration, the ACMW continues to cooperate with other ASEAN Sectoral Bodies, ASEAN Dialogue Partners and international development agencies related to migrant workers, such as International Labour Organization and International Organization for Migration.

The next ACMW Meeting will be held in 2020 in Vietnam.