PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN ASEAN

1. We, the Heads of State/Government of Member Countries of the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia,
the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the
Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of
Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, gathered
for the Second ASEAN Foundation Model ASEAN Meeting, held under the
chairmanship of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) with the theme
“​Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in ASEAN​” in Vientiane
on 4 - 7 October 2016.

2. We had constructive and cordial discussions to craft the future direction for an
ASEAN Community which works towards simultaneously closing the economic gap
between ASEAN countries, and upholding the rights of migrant workers within the
ASEAN region.

Protection of Human Rights

3. We support establishing labour unions for migrant workers to enable better promotion
of their interests, subject to the legislation in destination countries. Under this
scheme, we look forward to launching an orientation program to equip migrant
workers with basic knowledge regarding receiving countries’ cultures, languages,
working cultures, and environment, so as to prevent cultural misperception. [1a] In
addition, we affirm our commitment towards workplace safety, and agree that migrant
workers shall be properly trained for their job. [1f]
4. We shared similar concern over women and children, groups which are particularly
vulnerable to all kinds of exploitation, including human trafficking. In response to this,
we hope to promote awareness of basic rights to empower migrant workers [1b] and
 look forward to ensuring identification, integration, education, and healthcare for the
families of migrant workers, as well as their integration into society. [1c, 2a, 2b]
5. We acknowledge difficulties which may arise in remittance of money. We look
forward to collaborate on formalizing and regulating remittance processes to ensure
safe and reasonable remittances. [1d]
6. We affirm the importance of giving migrant workers in all ASEAN member states
equal opportunity and protection in accordance to international labour standards. To
that end, we agree that ASEAN member states shall ratify all eight core ILO
conventions so as to ensure fundamental rights are provided for all migrant workers.
[1e]
7. We emphasized the need to further strengthen cooperation between sending
countries and receiving countries through the establishments of Memorandums of
Understanding, by the supervision and assistance of ASEAN. [4]
8. We welcomed the adoption and establishment of these MOUs, which covers the
fundamental rights of migrant workers, a safe working environment for them, access
to social security system, basic healthcare and the rights to form labour unions. [4a]
9. We also emphasised the need for the strict regulation of labour recruitment agencies
involved in migration labour. [5a]

Raising Awareness of Migrant Rights

10. We express our shared belief in raising awareness on the rights of migrant workers
across ASEAN so as to create a sense of ASEAN citizenship regardless of
nationality. To this end, we agree that all member states shall conduct campaigns to
promote understanding of migrant workers. [2, 2a]
11. We recall existing regional mechanisms such as the ASEAN Intergovernmental
Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the ASEAN Commission on the Rights
of Women and Children (ACWC), and we affirm the importance of the exchange of
views and developing coherent and sustainable regional responses to the end of
strengthening promotion and protection of the rights of migrant workers in the region.
[c]
12. In order to reduce and control cultural tension and conflicts, we affirmed the need for
countries with similar cultures to supply migrant workers to recipient countries. [5b]

Promoting Gender Equality

13. We affirm our commitment to the establishment of a clear gender-sensitive policy
framework on migrant workers. Recognizing the rising feminization of migrant
workers, we highlight the importance of gender-specific governmental policies
towards migrant workers. We affirm the need to recognize domestic work as a
category of formal employment, where domestic workers enjoy equal human rights
protection and labour benefits in all ASEAN Member States (AMS). We looked
forward to sustaining efforts to establishing a united ASEAN community identity
through promoting social inclusion for migrant workers in AMS. [3d]