Nations pledge effort to protect workers

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.