Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
“It was a hard
and difficult negotiations," said Esteban Conejos, Philippine Foreign Undersecretary
for Migrant Workers said.
<P>“There is no more conflict at this time.
All conflicts have been resolved. The draft declaration has been approved by the
Directors General, the Senior Officials and it has been passed on to the Foreign
Ministers without single objection," he added.</P><P>Under the proposed declaration,
Asean members agree to “strengthen the political, economic and social pillars
of the Asean community by promoting the full potential and dignity of migrant
workers and their families in a climate of freedom, equity and stability in accordance
with the laws, regulations, and national policies of respective Asean member countries."</P><P>It
also seeks equal treatment and non-discrimination of migrant workers and their
families.</P><P>The receiving states have agreed to extend benefits to the family
of a migrant worker and to promote access to basic services such as information,
education, training, judicial and legal system.</P><P>The 10 Asean member-states
must also ensure security of employment and recognize to pay wages especially
the commitment to provide a decent working and living conditions for the overseas
workers.</P><P>Also included in the agreement, dubbed as the Asean Declaration
on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, is the prevention
of the occurrence of anti-trafficking and human smuggling.</P><P>The senior officials
spent days of tense negotiations. The Philippines and Indonesia had a hard time
convincing Malaysia, top recipient of migrant workers, to agree to a provision
that will extend protection to members of the workers’ families.</P><P>The
Philippines and Indonesia, two Asean members that are pushing hardest for the
signing of the declaration, are the largest contributors of the workers in the
region, mainly to Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.</P><P>A breakthrough was achieved
late Thursday night as Asean officials at the last minute tried to negotiate for
a text that is favorable to all the member-states.</P><P>“I think the compromise
language here is that it refers to families founded after the worker already arrived
and residing with them in consonance with their domestic laws," Conejos said.</P><P>Although
it is just a declaration, Conejos noted that an accord of this nature has the
moral suasion of a legally-binding agreement.</P><P>Member-states that will not
comply to the declaration will not be sanctioned, but Conejos said the ASEAN Secretary-General
had been tasked to monitor compliance to the agreement and submit an annual report.</P><P>He
also hoped that the declaration would evolve into a convention in the near future
and be expanded to include Asean dialogue partners Japan, China and Korea.</P><P>In
the Philippines alone, about 1.5 million Filipino workers are deployed in the
region.</P><P>“This is a declaration, for a declaration it went beyond a
statement of goals to identify obligations. Let us see, from here we move to a
declaration, to a covenant which is more binding. This is the first step, the
first major step. There is a way forward," Conejos said.</P><P>“(Another)
important obligation is with reference to the Vienna convention on consular affairs
that provides that in the event a foreign national is detained or arrested for
one reason or another in a host country. The host country is obligated to inform
the consulate of that country of which this national belongs so that the embassy
can visit him and provide the necessary assistance," Conejos explained.-GMANews.TV</P><P><I>Source:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/26681/Kinks-in-migrant-workers-pact-ironed-out</I>
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