Strengthening protection of migrant workers in ASEAN

A conference was held in Phnom Penh , Cambodia on April 4 to discuss measures to increase partnership among members of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in protecting and promoting the rights of migrant workers.
A conference was held in Phnom Penh , Cambodia on April 4 todiscuss measures to increase partnership among members of the SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) in protecting and promoting the rights of migrantworkers.

The three-day meeting focused on the role of members of parliament in the issue.

Addressingthe opening ceremony, Cambodian National Assembly Chairman Heng Samrinsaid migration for job seeking is posing great challenges to bothfamilies and society, including the trafficking and exploitation ofwomen and children.

The challenges not only threaten thelife of the victims, but also cause difficulties to their families andsociety as a whole, he said.

Therefore, the most importantissue is to seek appropriate method and measures to protect thesepeople, not to prevent the flow of migrant workers.

Chairman ofthe Cambodia NA’s Committee for Economy, Finance, Banking and Auditalso stressed the protection and promotion of migrant workers requiredthe involvement of all related parties.

The ASEAN Declarationon the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers waspassed in 2007. The region now has nearly 600 million people, accountingfor 8.8 percent of the world’s population, and a 263 million strongworkforce./.

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