On 1 December, TRIANGLE supported the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower to host the virtual First Consultation on the Development of the ASEAN Guidelines on Protection of Migrant Workers in Crisis Situations. The consultation was the first step in the work of the ASEAN Committee on Migrant Workers (ACMW) to develop these Guidelines under Indonesia’s leadership. The process is supported by the ILO’s TRIANGLE in ASEAN, IOM, and ASEAN Secretariat. The ASEAN Guidelines will be adopted during Indonesia’s ASEAN Chair 2023.

The online consultation was attended by around 70 participants including ACMW focal points from ASEAN Member States, employers’ organizations, workers’ organizations, civil society, ILO, IOM, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as representatives of several ASEAN sectoral bodies including the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM), Senior Officials’ Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD), ASEAN Labour Inspection Committee (ALICOM) and Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC).

Purpose of the 1st consultation was to:

1. Discuss the ASEAN risk landscape and how different kinds on disasters and conflicts affect migrant workers and migration;
2. Review international standards, frameworks and good practices on protection of migrant workers in crisis situations;
3. Examine relevant ASEAN frameworks and initiatives (by ACMW, ACDM, SOMHD, SOMTC and SOMTC) to identify the protection gap that the ASEAN Guidelines on Protection of Migrant Workers in Crisis Situations can fill and the normative basis for its development; and
4. Review and discuss a draft outline for the ASEAN Guidelines on Protection of Migrant Workers in Crisis Situations.

The 2nd consultation on the development of ASEAN Guidelines on Protection of Migrant Workers in Crisis Situations will be hosted in-person in Bali on 13 March 2023.

TRIANGLE in ASEAN is a partnership between the ILO, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC).