ASEAN, Migrant Workers and Human Rights

ProtectionSusan Kneebone

Faculty of Law, Monash University

Comprises mainly unskilled and semi-skilled workers

Irregular migration amounts to 40% of the total migratory movement

Increase in temporary migration and female migration (mainly for domestic work), and a commercialization of the recruitment industry

The dynamics of labour migration in SEA

ILO, Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), No. 97 1949

1975 ILO, Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, No.143

1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers (‘CMW’) – distinguishes documented \ undocumented migrants

A weak international normative framework?

ILO promotes the use of bilateral and multilateral agreements between destination and origin countries

Works closely with ASEAN IOM and regional consultative processes

(RCPs)

Processes

See, ‘ASEAN Norms and Setting The Agenda For The Rights of Migrant Workers’ in Nasu, H. and Saul B. eds., Human Rights in the Asia Pacific Region (Routledge 2011) Chapter 8

Within the ASEAN Community they straddle the Political-Security and Socio-Cultural

Reference

See Kneebone ‘Transnational labour migrants: whose responsibility?’ in Rubenstein, K. ed., Allegiance and Identity in a Globalised World (Cambridge University Press 2014)

Labelled as ‘foreign workers’ Their political status is defined by lack of

connection to the ‘host’ state Their lack of membership of the host

community is explained by their ‘foreignness’

The role of states – national policies re migrant workers

Restrictive integration policies Focus on labour market rather than

individual worker’s rights They are transnational labour migrants who

are frequently exploited in country of origin and at destination

The role of states – national policies re migrant workers

See Kneebone ‘Introduction: Migrant Workers Between States: In Search of Exit and Integration Strategies in South East Asia’ (2012) 40 (4) Asian Journal of Social Sciences 376-391

Migrant workers between states

A focus on regular migrants Limited reference to human rights Emphasis on creating a harmonious ASEAN

community

The 2007 ASEAN Declaration on the Rights of Migrant Workers

Declaration on Migrant Workers juxtaposes the obligations of sending and receiving states

Rather than stressing the shared obligations of states in the region

The 2007 ASEAN Declaration on the Rights of Migrant Workers

Reflect political relations and the balance of power within the region

Declaration on Migrant Workers, Art 11, imposes an obligation on sending states to “enhance measures related to the ... protection of the rights of migrant workers.”

The migrant worker under bilateral relations

Trafficked and smuggled persons Refugees and ‘anticipatory’ ‘crisis’

migration – recognised in CMW Common protection needs masked by

conventional causation-based categories …

Other ‘categories’ for migrant workers