ASEAN and EU join hands for better protection of migrant workers in Southeast Asia
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ASEAN and EU join hands for better protection of migrant workers in Southeast Asia
Boracay Island, Philippines, 4-7 July 2023 – The 2nd ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Safe and Fair Labour Migration and the launch of awareness-raising campaign videos for the ASEAN Safe and Fair Migration Campaign brought together over seventy policymakers, practitioners, and representatives of civil society and international organisations. They explored ways to better protect the rights of 7.1 million ASEAN migrants in the region, ensuring their valuable contribution to sustainable economic development.
The audio-visual products (AVPs) of the Public Campaign on Safe and Fair Migration in ASEAN were developed to equip prospective and current migrant workers with reliable and comprehensive information to help them prepare better for migration and safeguard against exploitation. For more effective outreach, these materials are available in English, Khmer, Bahasa Indonesia, Laotian, Burmese, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese. This ASEAN initiative was jointly led by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) of the Philippines, and supported by the European Union (EU) through the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI), and the International Labour Organization (ILO) through the EU-funded ILO-UN Women “Safe and Fair” (SAF) programme under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative.
In her keynote address, Philippine Migrant Workers Secretary Susan V. Ople noted the crucial role information and education play in the empowerment of millions of migrant workers across the region. “Knowledge is power and it's very important that they are guided in every step of their journey through these audio-visual presentations that would pass the test of time. It’s very important as well that the voices of our stakeholders are heard.” Secretary Ople added: “These pieces of wisdom based on a long history of labour and migration across and beyond ASEAN come together into vivid informational materials that every migrant worker can use, and, if possible, reuse while they journey on to look for ways to improve the economic life of their families.”
ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM) Chairperson and DOLE Undersecretary Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio emphasised the significance of labour migration in expanding work opportunities of ASEAN people and in enhancing economies of member states: “This mobility fosters regional complementation of resources, spurs growth and development, promotes cultural exchange, and contributes to ASEAN's vision of shared prosperity. The recently adopted ASEAN Declaration on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Family Members in Crisis Situations further seeks to safeguard migrants from abuses they may face.” He concluded: “The AVPs launched today aim to educate ASEAN citizens about the kind of labour migration we all want – decent work for migrant workers.”
Ms Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, added: “With the resumption of post-pandemic labour migration, it is critical that we strengthen information and services to help make migration safe and fair. These videos, supplementing existing education materials, will make a valuable contribution towards decent work and social justice for women and men migrant workers in the ASEAN region and beyond.”
The 2nd ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Safe and Fair Labour Migration on 7 July 2023 acknowledged that increasing mobility of migrant workers requires a joint response, a continuous improvement on the governance of labour migration, and strengthening of regional migration measures. The Dialogue was an opportunity for officials from ASEAN and the EU to share knowledge and perspectives on effective strategies to support the well-being of migrant workers and their families.
"Migration is a vital component of development, as it contributes to global economic growth and eradicating poverty. With the increasing prominence of migration in our society, there is a pressing need to prioritise its safety and fairness”, H.E. Igor Driesmans, EU Ambassador to ASEAN, stated in his remarks. “The EU-ASEAN Strategic Partnership recognises the complexities associated with this issue and underlines our collective commitment to addressing the common challenges, including through our cooperation to protect and advance the rights of migrant workers. Equally important is the inclusion of voices that are often marginalised in the migration debate, as they can contribute to our policy development," he added.
“As of 2023, labour migration in the region is reaching pre-pandemic levels. This requires the region’s existing labour mobility management systems to be further developed to maximise migrants’ contribution to the overall socio-economic recovery and growth,” Ms Sarah Arriola, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, explained. “It is encouraging to see that governments in the region have taken important steps to improve migration governance,” she complemented.
The 2nd ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Safe and Fair Labour Migration and the launch of awareness-raising campaign videos for the ASEAN Safe and Fair Migration Campaign were part of an ASEAN Senior Labour Officials’ Workshop on the Mid-Term Review and Strategic Planning of the ASEAN Labour Ministers' 5-year Work Programme 2021-2025, in Boracay, Philippines from 4 to 7 July 2023. The entire programme was supported by the EU through E-READI; ILO, IOM and the ASEAN Secretariat.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded on 8 August 1967 and constitutes ten Member States: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. On 31 December 2015, the ASEAN Community was formally established. The ASEAN Secretariat is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Philippines Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is the national government agency mandated to formulate policies, implement programmes, and serve as the policy-coordinating arm of the Executive Branch in the field of labour and employment. DOLE promotes gainful employment opportunities and optimizes the development and utilization of the country’s manpower resources.
The Philippines Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is the primary agency of the government tasked to protect the rights and promote the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). It is mandated to formulate, plan, coordinate, promote, administer, and implement policies and undertake system for regulating, managing, and monitoring overseas employment and reintegration of OFWs. The DMW is also tasked to promote the empowerment and protection of migrant workers through continuous training and knowledge development.
The European Union (EU) is the economic and political union of 27 Member States. Together, the EU has built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development while maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedom. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the goals of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The EU is the world's largest trading bloc, and the world's largest source and destination of foreign direct investment. Collectively, the EU and its 27 member countries are the largest donors of Official Development Assistance (ODA), providing more than half of ODA globally.
The Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI) is an EU-financed programme that facilitates cooperation and dialogue between the EU and ASEAN in policy areas of joint interest. Drawing on the EU’s experience of regional integration, E-READI further strengthens both the ASEAN regional integration process as well as the overall ASEAN-EU strategic partnership.
The Safe and Fair (SAF) programme is part of the EU-United Nations (UN) Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls, a global, multi-year initiative of the European Union and United Nations. Safe and Fair is implemented through a partnership between the ILO and UN Women, in collaboration with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the overriding objective of ensuring that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), established in 1951, is the leading intergovernmental organisation in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental partners. With 175 Member States, a further 8 states holding observer status, and offices in over 100 countries, IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions, and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.