A

decade since ASEAN’s declaration recognizing the protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights, the regional bloc is only now set to sign an mechanism to put the agreement into force across its member countries.

The ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, also known as the Cebu Declaration, was signed by the association’s 10 member countries in January 2007 and mandates countries to promote fair employment protection and payment of wages, as well as adequate access to decent working and living conditions for migrant workers.

However, it is not legally binding because a mechanism to ensure its implementation is yet to be signed, with observers noting that the regional bloc is moving at a snail’s pace in addressing the rising challenges surrounding migrant workers.

ASEAN Migrant Workers Task Force convener Sinapan Samydorai said the committee overseeing the draft of the mechanism to implement the Cebu Declaration had moved a step closer to finalizing the document.

Samydorai noted that at the ASEAN Labor Ministers retreat in February in Davao City, the Philippines, member states had worked together “in the spirit of ASEAN consensus,” with only fine tuning remaining, as well as finalizing pending articles.

“They agreed on almost all aspects of the three principal issues of the draft ASEAN instrument. The retreat signifies a strong joint effort by ASEAN to finalize the draft ASEAN instrument by April 2017,” Samydorai said during a recent discussion in Jakarta.

Samydorai did not elaborate further, but the instrument is expected to serve as a set of guidelines that legally binds all member countries, with negotiations prolonged due to diverging interests from sending and receiving states, including, among other things, the issue of undocumented migrants.

Sending states, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have pushed for a legal deal that would ensure the fundamental rights of all ASEAN migrant workers, including their family members, were met, as well as national policies harmonized with regional minimum standards of treatment pertaining to social protection and security.

Observers, meanwhile, have noted that Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand may not agree to a binding treaty to protect migrant workers in their countries, thus hindering negotiations due to ASEAN’s consensus-based decision-making process.

The Cebu Declaration, however, had not been fruitless, Samydorai said, explaining that ASEAN member states also continued to implement the statement through various joint projects and activities, including an annual ASEAN Forum on Migrant Laborers (AFLM).

AFLM members gather annually to produce a set of recommendations for ASEAN and its member countries on migrant worker issues, with the ninth meeting taking place in November in Vientiane.

At that time, the participants agreed on a number of issues, such as a progressive plan from each member state, with a clear timeframe, toward ensuring equitable access to social protection for migrant workers, including working injury insurance, medical care, sickness and maternity benefits, invalidity and survivors’ pensions and death benefits.

Ridwan Wahyudi, a member of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Association (SBMI), noted that AFML recommendations could also be used to strengthen the bilateral relations of ASEAN member countries, to establish a legally binding cooperation when the declaration did not.

Indonesia is among the largest senders of migrant workers, with many located in neighboring Malaysia. Citing 2015 data, Ridwan said Indonesia made up 40 percent of the total number of foreign workers in Malaysia, the largest slice of the pie, with over 800,000 people.

However, many are noted to be undocumented, making them more vulnerable to mistreatment and putting them in a weak position in legal cases.

Migrant Care executive director Wahyu Susilo said the migrant worker sector was often overlooked due to existing social prejudice and, therefore, there should be a new approach to address the sector from an economic perspective.

“It’s impossible to talk about ASEAN, when talking about economic progress, without taking into account migrant workers as a significant factor,” Wahyu added.