As the ASEAN leaders adopted the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers at the 12th ASEAN Summit in January 2007, and set out in article 22 of the Declaration that an "ASEAN instrument", or agreement, be developed to regulate migration and protect migrant workers' rights in the ASEAN member states, the South East Asia National Human Rights Institutions Forum (SEANF) collaborated a policy paper to provide recommendations to address related issues on migrant workers. National recommendations for each SEANF member country (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand) are included as well in the paper.

The SEANF states that the scope and coverage of the ASEAN Instrument should address all issues relating to migrant workers. ASEAN should use the principle of "national treatment", which is defined as non-discriminatory treatment that ensures migrant workers receive treatment no less favorable than the treatment accorded to nationals of the labour receiving state. This principle should be explicitly stated in the ASEAN Instrument in relation to wages and conditions of work for migrants, and respect to the terms and conditions of work contracts. All aspects of laws and regulations should be equally applied to migrant workers, with special attention to those relating to wages, labour , housing, social protection, access to grievance handling and legal procedures, and judicial redress insofar as they are not inconsistent with the contract of employment.

Attachments:

SEANF Paper on Migrant Workers

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