After two years of intensive
consultation, the Task Force on ASEAN Migrant Workers (TF-AMW) has formally
proposed a detailed civil society Framework Instrument for the Protection and
Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers to Khamkhane Phinsavanh, Chairperson
of the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM) at the Lao Plaza Hotel in
Vientiane, Lao PDR, on 12 May 2009.
The framework contains 192 recommendations
covering all aspects of migration. The meeting, arranged by the Lao Federation
of Trade Unions (LFTU) and the TF-AMW, marked an important step in the process
of substantive civil society engagement with ASEAN.

In the accompanying letter, Sinapan Samydorai, the Convener of the TF-AMW,
called for greater participation of civil society in ASEAN's deliberations,
ensuring the final ASEAN agreement covers all workers irregardless of status or
origin, and bringing forward an ASEAN agreement on migration that is binding on
all ASEAN nations.

Samydorai, said that "The TF-AMW is strongly committed to engaging with
ASEAN and its Member States on this critical issue over the long term. There
needs to be a new deal for migrant workers in ASEAN, where their rights are
respected, and laws and policies are harmonized with international labour
standards". TF-AMW hopes that such dialogues will pave the way to define
strategies and policies that deal fairly and justly with the rights of all
migrant workers'.

To read the complete news, please click here.
To read the Framework Instrument, please click here (.doc).