ASEAN must find the best way to solve issues of migrant workers

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.