18 May 2007
Cebu, Philippines (Agencies) -- Asean has failed to reach a consensus on whether a proposed agreement calling for stronger protection and improved conditions for migrant workers should also cover family members living with them in the employing country.
Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, who represented the Philippines in the talks, said some members of the 10-nation bloc had expressed reservations over the mention of "families" in the draft document.
He did not identify the countries. Negotiations will continue today to try to reach some sort of agreement. Conejos expressed confidence that the issue was just a "matter of terminology" and was not serious enough to hold back the signing of the declaration.
The Cebu Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant workers was to be one of the major documents to be signed in the 12th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this weekend.
"They just don't want to get the impression across that they are welcoming families because, under their domestic laws, when you say 'migrant workers,' it's the workers and not the family," Conejos told reporters upon emerging from yesterday's meeting of Asean senior officials.
"On the other hand," he said, "it was articulated there are instances when, for example, domestic workers abroad gets married or raise a family there."
Such scenarios are possible even if the workers originally had "no intention of bringing their families with them," he noted. "So, shall we separate them?" he asked - citing the "argument's pro and con" that were raised during the discussion.
The officials were reduced to arguing over line-by-line changes to the statement yesterday, with nations at odds over extending rights to the families of immigrant workers, one official said.
"The whole issue of migrant labour in Southeast Asia is a minefield of problems," the official said.
He said Indonesian insistence on including "migrant workers and their families" was being strongly resisted by Singapore and Malaysia, two of the region's biggest recipients of migrant labour.
Human rights and labour groups around the region have called on Asean to improve the pay and conditions of migrant workers, many of whom are exploited and paid low wages.
William Gois, regional coordinator for Migrant Forum in Asia, said migrant workers were the "backbone" of the region's economic success but at the same time were treated miserably.
"The problem for Asean is to come up with a document that will be taken seriously and incorporate labour standards including freedom of association, the right to organize and bargain collectively, and eliminate all forms of discrimination at the workplace," he said.
"Asean should also recognize that its people are not tradable commodities."
Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam are the region's main suppliers of labour, providing skilled and unskilled workers, while Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand are among the major recipients.
Gois said no one knows how many legal and illegal migrant workers there are in Southeast Asia but said it was "reasonable to assume that the figure would be many millions."
He added: "Countries like Singapore and Malaysia are heavily dependent on migrant labour. Without them their economies would face serious problems."
He said the number of undocumented migrant workers in Malaysia from Indonesia, the Philippines and Burma probably topped 200,000.
"Nearly all those working on Malaysia's rubber plantations are migrant workers, while countries like Singapore seek out skilled technical people," he said.
Gois said Asean should recognize the contributions made by millions of migrant workers to the economies of its members.
