VN prepares for ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour

(VNF) - Social security for migrant workers will be the theme of the 9^th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) hosted by the Laos Government in November this year.

The information was announced in the national preparatory meeting for the forum held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), in Hanoi on September 9^th.

The AFML is an annual activity of the ASEAN Committee on the protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights since 2008. Those gathered discuss, share experiences, build consensus on the protection of migrant workers’ issues under the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers – the Cebu Declaration in 2007 – and conclude with the adoption of recommendations that bring life to the provisions of the Cebu Declaration.

From November 9^th-10^th, the ninth forum will discuss existing social welfares for ASEAN migrant workers and work towards the mobility of social insurance for the target group.

Le Kim Dung, the director of the Department of International Cooperation. (Photo: thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn)

At the preparatory meeting, Le Kim Dung, the director of the Department of International Cooperation under the MoLISA, said the purpose of the national preparatory meeting was to check national-level activities to implement recommendations of the previous forums.

Experts at the meeting also discussed the recommendations which Vietnam will present at the coming AFML, when other ASEAN countries present their own recommendations.

The approaching AFML’s focus on social welfares for migrant workers is necessary and well-timed as many migrant workers in ASEAN haven’t benefited from social welfares. They have no longer enjoyed some of their rights at home and faced unfairness in their host countries.

It is important to ensure equal access to social welfares between workers in the formal and informal sectors. The implementation of bilateral social welfare agreements to ensure the mobility of social insurance will help migrant workers ensure their rights when working abroad, participants noted.

Migrant workers make considerable contributions to countries’ economic growth and sustainable development. So Vietnam and other ASEAN countries are paying increasing attention to protecting the legal rights and social security of migrant workers and their families, according to director Dung.

ILO Country Director for Vietnam Chang-Hee Lee speaks at the meeting. (Photo: thanhtra.com.vn)

Chang-Hee Lee, the director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office for Vietnam, said ILO supports preparatory meetings like this to allow wider participation of national social partners, civil society organizations and related government ministries in ASEAN.

“When migrant workers are better protected by legal frameworks and effective enforcement, safe and profitable migration is more likely to make economic and social contributions to Vietnam and to our region,” Mr. Lee said./.

Minh Phuong