ASEAN Senior Officials Clear Instrument on Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers for Endorsement to the 31st ASEAN Summit
11 November 2017 CLARK, PAMPANGA - ASEAN Senior Officials led by Undersecretary Enrique Manalo of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs today cleared a regional consensus instrument on the protection of the rights of ASEAN Migrant Workers, among other documents and reports, for endorsement to the ASEAN Leaders when the latter meet for the 31st ASEAN Summit on 13 November 2017 in Manila.
The instrument on the protection of the rights of migrant workers builds on ASEAN’s efforts to develop a regional instrument providing a framework of protection for the thousands of migrant workers and their families in the region. Back in 2007 during the 12th ASEAN Summit that was held and also chaired by the Philippines in Cebu, the ASEAN Leaders issued a “Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.” In this year’s Summit, that Declaration is turned into a concrete set of guidelines on how ASEAN Member States shall treat migrant workers from their fellow Member States.
The Senior Officials meeting in Clark is the last to be held under the Philippines’ Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017. “In the course of the year we assumed the Chairmanship of ASEAN, I truly enjoyed working with my ASEAN counterparts in helping our Foreign Ministers and Leaders advance ASEAN’s community building efforts,” Undersecretary Manalo was quoted as saying at the end of the conference. END