Nations pledge effort to protect workers

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Labor ministers from labor exporting and importing countries have agreed to increase regional and bilateral cooperation to protect migrant workers and improve their welfare.

The agreement was reached as the ministers concluded their third annual consultation meeting in Bali late on Wednesday.

"The ministerial consultation recommends the enhancement of regional and bilateral cooperation to make the management of overseas employment programs effective, and to prepare regulatory frameworks and allied measures to prevent malpractice and abuses either during recruitment or employment," the ministers said in an official statement.

In attendance at the meeting were 10 major labor exporting countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and host Indonesia. Seven large labor importing countries were also in attendance. They were: Bahrain, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Representatives from the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Bank, the International Organization for Migration, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also attended the two-day meeting.

According to the statement, labor exporting countries are recommended to ensure the safe recruitment and travel of migrant workers, provide the workers with the necessary training and help to build the institutional capacity of national partners, including non-governmental organizations and labor exporters.

Labor importing countries are recommended to adopt international humanitarian laws, including the ILO convention on the protection of migrant workers, to ensure the safe employment and protection of migrant workers.

The consultation meeting identified the increasing flow of migrant workers to the Middle East and Europe from Asia as the main challenge for both labor exporting and importing countries, particularly providing the workers with sufficient protection during their travel and employment.

An estimated 2.6 million Asian workers left their home countries last year to work in the Middle East, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Europe. South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India accounted for 46 percent of that total, while Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam made up 50 percent.

Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have become the main destinations in Europe for professionals and semiskilled workers from Asia over the last decade.

Indonesia and the Philippines are two largest labor exporting countries in Southeast Asia. Indonesia exports about 400,000 workers a year, mostly women who are employed as maids in the Middle East, Hong Kong and Taiwan with an average monthly salary of between US$200 and $400.

The number of Indonesian workers employed overseas has reached two million. These workers send back about $4 billion to the country each year. The Philippines exports about 800,000 workers annually, mostly employed in the formal sector. The country's labor exports contribute about $10 billion in foreign exchange earnings to the country each year.