Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to this Regional Tripartite Meeting on Challenges to Labour Migration Policy and Management in Asia.

I would like to thank the tripartite national delegations representing governments, employers and workers from 21 countries in the region, as well as observers from fellow UN agencies and other organizations with an interest in these issues.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The last three decades has seen a progressive growth in the scale and complexity of labour movement in Asia and the Pacific. Robust economic growth in the region created a strong demand for migrant workers, as some of the most dynamic nations swiftly exhausted their labour pool, while tightening labour markets allowed domestic workers to seek higher paying and better protected jobs.

Labour migration has now become a structural feature of economic growth in Asia. This trend is set to continue due to declining population growth in some countries and closer integration of the region's economies.

In Asia and the Pacific, migrant workers have performed enormous feats, and many host countries have lauded their achievements in providing much-needed transport, construction, social and service infrastructure. Migrant workers, it could be argued, have provided a higher degree of gender empowerment in some nations by providing the opportunity for women workers in the host nation to re-enter the workforce. In economic terms, migrant worker remittances represent the second largest international monetary trade flow, exceeded only by petroleum.

Unfortunately, process of labour migration has often meant that migrants find themselves in exploitative situations in their host countries. Recruitment fraud and abuse, trafficking and forced labour, exploitative wages, poor working conditions, and social exclusion have robbed many migrant workers of the opportunity of the potential benefits of working in another country. The development of labour institutions, including treaties on social security or reciprocal treatment of skills certification for transitional labour, has fallen far behind the growth of migration itself.

Although there have been fluctuations in the levels of worker emigration in line with shifts in demand in receiving countries, the overall pattern has been a continuous increase in labour emigration, while there has also been an increase in the number of destination countries. Both inward and outward migration has included more service workers, particularly women. To assist advocates and activists, policy makers and implementers, the ILO's Gender Promotion Programme has produced an extensive information guide on preventing discrimination, exploitation and abuse of women migrant workers.

While its focus is on women migrants, it is important to note that both male and female migrant workers are vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation and abuse throughout all stages of the international migration process, including being trafficked. Discrimination against migrant and ethnic minority workers is recognized as one of the most serious underlying threats to social peace and workplace productivity.

Migrant trafficking has been given considerable visibility by the media, government and NGOs in Asia. Women and children are particularly vulnerable, and are often trafficked into conditions of slave labour and/or forced prostitution.

In Southeast Asia, ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), which has generously co-sponsored this meeting, has been implementing a sub-regional project to combat trafficking in children and women in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Viet Nam and China's Yunnan province, focussing on trafficking prevention, and exploring legal labour migration alternatives to trafficking.

Another project, called Combatting Trafficking in Children for Labour and Sexual Exploitation (TICSA), aims to strengthen the capacity of country-level partners to prevent child trafficking within countries and across borders, and to rehabilitate child victims of trafficking. TICSA is currently operating in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and progress made in these projects has been widely acknowledged and lauded.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Most labour sending and receiving countries in this region have yet to ratify international instruments relating to the protection of migrant workers. In this context, how can countries ensure appropriate attention to labour standards and other measures to discourage irregular migration and unfair competition with domestic workers?

Specific responsibility for the protection of interest of workers employed in countries other than their own is enshrined in the ILO's constitution. Three ILO Conventions, the Migration for Employment Convention (C 97), Migrant Workers' Convention (C 143), and the Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention (C 19) are expressly concerned with the rights of migrant workers. Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families enters into force tomorrow. We would encourage more countries in this region to ratify these important instruments.

Increasing concern among governments and social partners across Asia regarding labour migration presents a major challenge for the ILO. However, the ILO offers a unique tripartite framework for migration policy development and implementation.

The expertise and considerable experience of the ILO and its values and standard-based approach should be the basis for shaping national and regional labour migration management policy and practice in Asia. In 2001, at the ILO's Thirteenth Asian Regional

Meeting in Bangkok, delegates recognized that bilateral and multilateral approaches are prerequisites safeguarding the least protected. Delegates requested the Office to take a lead in developing and facilitating appropriate policy measures for migrant workers within the framework of Decent Work. It was suggested that Regional Offices carry out activities on labour migration and provide a forum to discuss migration issues. In this regard, the Regional Office and sub-regional offices have carried out several important initiatives.

At the request of the Royal Thai Government's Ministry of Labour, the ILO, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, carried out a major policy development project in Thailand. It argued the need for evolving a longer-term policy on migrant workers based on labour market needs of the economy The findings were debated at a national tripartite seminar in May 2002, and submitted to the government.

In 2002, the ILO fielded an interdisciplinary mission on migration to Nepal as a follow-up to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme of the Royal Government of Nepal, at the request of the Ministry of Labour and Transport. Additionally, the ILO's Migration branch in Geneva, along with the Multidisciplinary team in Bangkok, organized a National Training Workshop on Overseas Employment in Mongolia in November 2002. The ILO has also provided advisory services on migration management and policy to Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The ILO Governing Body at its March 2002 session decided to hold a General Discussion of Migrant Workers on the agenda of the International Labour Conference in 2004. In this context, this week's meeting will obviously contribute to identifying important regional issues, perceptions and experiences in Asia within the tripartite framework.

The objectives of this meeting are to review migration trends and issues in relation to economic and social development and the evolution of labour markets in the region, discuss issues relating to the protection of migrant workers and trafficked victims with
a special focus on the role of tripartite constituents and other concerned agencies. It will also provide a valuable opportunity to share experiences and good practices in migration policy and management in the region. A key goal will be to identify options and strategies for sustainable migration policy and management with Asia and the Pacific. But let me remind you that it is not the purpose of this meeting to criticize any national policies in this regard.

Since migrant workers have to cross borders - governments, employer and worker groups have to cooperate effectively to ensure all parties involved, and particularly migrants themselves, can benefit. I am convinced that the sharing of experiences and discussions during this week's programme will prove to be of great benefit to current efforts in the region to protect workers' rights and advance economic growth. I wish you all the very best in contributing to the formulation of practical activities for follow-up in the region in the near future, and in developing regional views and concerns for discussion at next year's International Labour Conference.