The International Labour Organization (ILO) called on Southeast Asian countries to build strong coordination and cooperation among their trade unions for the protection of international migrant workers, who are often vulnerable to unfair treatment, abuse and exploitation, at a regional seminar kicked off on July 16 in Hanoi.
“Migrant workers significantly contribute to the economies of their host countries, and the remittances they send home help to boost the economies of their countries of origin, but they often have little protection and rights,” said ILO Vietnam Country Director Gyorgy Sziraczki at the three-day event entitled “Improving trade union cooperation between labour sending and receiving countries in ASEAN”.
According to the ILO, international labour migration is an “unavoidable phenomenon” in a globalized economy, so trade unions as an institution fighting for social justice and human rights, need to do their best to ensure safe migration and protection of labour rights.
ILO Asia Pacific senior specialist on workers’ activities Pong-Sul Ahn said that cooperation between trade unions from both sending and receiving countries plays an important role in exchanging information and supporting the protection of the rights of migrant workers.
“Protecting the rights of migrant workers is the best way to protect the rights of national workers and avoid attempts to place international migrants and national workers in competition with each other,” he added.
Standing Vice Chairman Nguyen Hoa Binh of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), meanwhile, said that a strong network of trade unions in the region could also support efforts aimed at efficiently organizing migrant workers.
According to Mr Pong-Sul, international labour migration needs to be managed in line with rights-based policies, enshrined by international conventions and national laws.
“The rights of migrant workers should be protected regardless of their status – documented or undocumented,” he said.
The ILO estimates that of all 105 million international migrant workers around the world, some 30 million are from Asia and the Pacific. About 14 million migrant workers are from the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and 6 million are working in this region, mainly in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei.
The number of migrants crossing borders in search of employment is expected to increase in the coming decades due to demographic trends and the persistence of wide per capita income and wage gaps across countries. The establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2015 and the accompanying freer movement of skilled labour are likely to further support international migration in the region.
According to the Vietnam Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, about 80,000 Vietnamese workers are sent abroad every year. Approximately 500,000 workers are working abroad under legal contracts in more than 40 countries. They are expected to send home a remittance of US$1.8-2 billion in 2013.
“Vietnam has a huge young and diligent workforce, but is not yet able to create enough jobs and decent jobs for them,” said Mr Binh. “So sending workers abroad to work is a national strategy, which has been well implemented over the past years and will continue to be pushed forward in the time to come. This requires lots of efforts from the country in general and trade unions in particular in protection the rights and benefits of migrant workers”.
Giang Tu
Vietnamese
