ASEAN strengthens cooperation on protection of migrant workers
The 16th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (16th ACMW Meeting) has been held recently in Jakarta via videoconference.
Cambodian workers return home from Thailand. (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)
Jakarta (VNA) – The 16th Meeting of theASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on theProtection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (16th ACMW Meeting) hasbeen held recently in Jakarta via videoconference.
The event was hosted and chaired by Indonesia’sMinistry of Manpower as the ACMW Chair 2023-2024.
Over 50 delegates from the ACMW focal points of allten ASEAN Member States (AMS) and the ASEAN Secretariat attended the meeting.Participants from Timor-Leste’s focal points also attended as observers for thefirst time.
The meeting reviewed the progress on theimplementation of the Action Plan (2018-2025) of the ASEAN Consensus on theProtection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. Key outcomes andchallenges of the completed initiatives as well as the implementation ofongoing and planned projects were discussed.
The meeting also examined the results of the AMS’second self-assessment on the implementation of the ASEAN Consensus. Steadyprogress and increased efforts were observed to have been made in realising thecommitments of the ASEAN Consensus.
The meeting also deliberated on the recently adoptedASEAN Declarations related to the protection of migrant workers, as well as theongoing development of the respective guidelines to turn commitments intoconcrete actions.
Representatives of the International Organisation forMigration (IOM) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) also attendedthe openiong session together with their respective donor partners fromAustralia, Canada, and the European Union (EU).
The opening session concluded with representatives ofILO and IOM agreeing to review and update the ongoing partnership and toexplore other priority areas for future collaboration, including strengtheningefforts and initiatives to prevent human trafficking and labour exploitation ofmigrant workers as well as promoting safe and fair migration in the region./.
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The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) pledges to work closely with the Vietnamese Government to develop migrant workers’ skills, give them better employment chances, and improve their migration experience, said IOM Chief of Mission in Vietnam Park Mihyung.
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Cambodian workers return home from Thailand. (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post) 
