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igrant workers in ASEAN need protection that is stronger than bilateral agreements between member countries because such arrangements are informal and too weak to protect workers’ rights.

“The problem with bilateral agreements is that the negotiation depends on who has the leverage over the other country. In addition, the content of the agreement is also not easily accessible to the public,” Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) researcher Avyanthi Azis said at a book launch on the migration issue in ASEAN recently.

Bilateral agreements have become the dominant mode of governance in promoting the protection of the rights of migrant workers, as the regional bloc has yet to make a legally binding document for the protection of migrant workers.

The implementation of the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of Migrant Workers’ Rights, which was agreed upon during the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines in November 2017, was still far from expectations, said Daniel Awigra, HRWG’s deputy director for ASEAN human rights advocacy. “The implementation of it remains a domestic issue in ASEAN,” he said.

Indonesia as a country of origin has two expired bilateral agreements with Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, and is currently undergoing negotiations with both countries.

Unfortunately, Avyanthi said, bilateral agreements usually only emphasized the placement of migrant workers in the destination country, not the matter of protection.

Compared to such bilateral agreements, she said, a multilateral convention was much preferred because it could be translated into stronger national laws or regulations.

“A convention is actually the strongest, for example the convention on human trafficking. It is translated into national law too because Indonesia has a law which then ratifies the convention, so that it can strengthen its protection,“ Avyanthi said.

Among the 10 ASEAN member countries, only Indonesia and the Philippines have ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

The Philippines is also the only ASEAN country that has ratified the International Labor Organization Convention No. 189 concerning Domestic Work.

Although considered too weak, Indah Anggoro Putri, head of the international cooperation bureau at the Manpower Ministry said bilateral memorandums of understanding still had legal force.

Indonesia’s bilateral agreements on the protection of migrant workers in Indonesia always regulated three main issues: work contracts between workers and employers, implementation of basic human rights principles and the promotion of the rights of migrant workers’ families, she said.

“We are also trying to ensure that the children of migrant workers get access to education and health services as long as their parents are working abroad,” Putri said.