ASEAN must find the best way to solve issues of migrant workers
Wahyu Susilo, Executive Secretary, Consortium for Indonesian Migrant Workers Advocacy (Kopbumi), Jakarta, seknas.kopbumi@lycos.com
Ahead of the ninth summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this week, a number of issues had increasingly dogged the regional body's "harmony". Among them was the political crisis in Myanmar with the detention of Aung San Su Kyi.
The issue has further tested the principle of noninterference following the trend of member country representatives becoming more ready to be involved in disputes in recent years. This seems to have been brought about by the transitional process in a number of countries, such as the regime change in Indonesia and the reduced influence in the region it once enjoyed through the role of strong man president Soeharto.
It is therefore high time that Southeast Asian leaders recognize their common problems and seek solutions rather than being hesitant at every step for fear of being accused of "interference". The Indonesian government itself was criticized for failing to act effectively compared to the Philippines when some 750,000 undocumented workers in August 2002 were repatriated from Malaysia, and some critics related this failure to Indonesia's reluctance to offend fellow ASEAN member Malaysia, particularly Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.
For decades one common unresolved issue has been the protection of migrant workers, even while the countries of ASEAN both send and receive migrant labor.
Two migration patterns are identifiable in this region: The Mekong sub-regional migration and the archipelagic ASEAN migration. The first pattern covers areas where the River Mekong passes, namely Thailand, as the destination for migrant workers -- and Cambodia, Burma, Laos and Vietnam, as the countries of origin of migrant workers.
In the case of the second pattern of migration, the destination countries for migrant workers are Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei while Indonesia and the Philippines are the countries of origin of migrant workers.
Labor migration in these two sub-regions of ASEAN are fraught with problems. There is an influx of migrants, beggars and political refugees from Burma, Laos and Cambodia in Thailand. Transnational mobility in this region has also been made use of by syndicates involved in drug trafficking and also in the trafficking of women and children. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and drug dependency in this region is one result of this trend.
In the archipelagic ASEAN areas, labor migration is marked by the presence of undocumented migrant workers, violence against migrant workers and the trafficking of women and children. This problem peaked with the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of workers, as an effect of Malaysia's repressive Immigration Act 1154A.
A common platform on migrant labor policies among ASEAN member countries has yet to be realized. ASEAN has been left behind when compared with the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which has produced a South Asian Regional Convention to regulate migration and to prevent the trafficking of women and children. Nearly all countries in South Asia are countries of origin for migrant workers.
For Southeast Asia, a regional convention is urgent to create equilibrium in the relationship between the sending and receiving countries of migrant workers.
ASEAN leaders should follow up the initiative taken up by the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) in its meeting in Jakarta last month for the establishment of a legal instrument to provide protection for migrant workers by accommodating this initiative in their national and regional policies.
Indonesia should form an alliance with countries where migrant workers usually come from (particularly the Philippines) in order to improve their bargaining position against destination countries for migrant workers.
The Philippines is so far the only ASEAN member country with a comprehensive migrant labor protection policy. The political commitment of the Philippine government is reflected in successfully concluded bilateral agreements with Middle Eastern countries, states that Indonesia has always found difficult to bring to the negotiating table for similar agreements.
ASEAN countries urgently need a commitment to formulate and implement the minimum standard for safe migrant worker placement policies, pressure for the conclusion of a bilateral agreement among ASEAN member countries on migrant workers with agreed minimum standards, and preparation for an ASEAN regional convention regarding migrant workers' protection and prevention of the trafficking of women and children.
The addressing of these issues by ASEAN would hopefully lead to less cases of abuse and even unexplained deaths among migrant workers in the region. This would thus remove potential stumbling blocks in political interaction among ASEAN member countries when it comes to issues related to the right and the efforts of their people in seeking a better life across their national borders.