PHILIPPINE NAVY CORVETTE ACQUISITION PROGRAM

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AN OVERVIEW OF THE ASIAN LABOUR MINISTERIAL
CONSULTATIONS
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Purpose
To apprise the OFW Journalism Consortium the
highlights of the Asian Labour Migration
Ministerial Consultations
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Outline of Presentation

• Introduction
• The International Organization for Migration
• Colombo Consultations
• Manila Consultations
• Way Ahead
• Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION
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• Recognition by governments of the potential of
  labour migration to contribute to economic
  development
• Implementation of effective migration management
  policies, regulations and strategies
• Crucial for Asian labour sending countries
  sources of 2 million migrant workers annually
• IOM organized two Ministerial Consultations
  Colombo in April 2003 and Manila in September 2004

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Profile

• committed to the principle that humane and
  orderly migration benefits migrants and
  society
• established in 1951, now leading international
  organization working with migrants and
  governments to provide humane responses to
  migration challenges
• with over 200 permanent offices and over 4,000
  staff

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IOM
Core Activities

• assist in meeting the growing operational
  challenges of migration management
• advance understanding of migration issues
• encourage social and economic development through
  migration
• uphold the human dignity and well-being of
  migrants

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IOM
Specific Activities

• rapid humanitarian responses to sudden migration
  flows
• post-emergency return and reintegration
  programmes
• assistance to migrants on their way to new homes
  and lives
• facilitation of labour migration
• assisted voluntary return for regular migrants
• recruitment of qualified nationals for return to
  their countries of origin

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IOM
Specific Activities

• aid to migrants in distress
• training and capacity building of officials
• measures to counter trafficking in persons
• migration medical and public health programmes
• mass information and education on migration
• research related to migration management and
  other services to migrants

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IOM
The Four-Box Chart
MAIN AREAS
MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT
FACILITATING MIGRATION
REGULATING MIGRATION
FORCED MIGRATION

• Return of Qualified Nationals
• Exchange of Expertise
• Remittances/Money Transfers
• Overseas Communities
• Micro-credit Schemes
• Targeted Assistance
• Brain Drain and Gain

• Workers and Professionals
• Students and Trainees
• Family Reunification
• Recruitment and Placement
• Documentation
• Language Training
• Cultural Orientation
• Consular Services

• Systems for Visa, Entry and Stay
• Border Management
• Technology Applications
• Assisted Return and Reintegration
• Counter-Trafficking
• Counter-Smuggling
• Stranded Migrants

• Asylum and Refugees
• Resettlement
• Repatriation
• IDPs
• Transition and Recovery
• Former Combatants
• Claims and Compensation
• Elections and Referenda

Cross-Cutting Activities
Technical Cooperation Capacity Building
Migrants Rights and International Migration Law
Data and Research
Policy Debate and Guidance
Regional and International Cooperation
Public Information and Education
Migration Health
Gender Dimension
Integration and Reintegration
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IOM
Capacity Building for the Protection of
Vulnerable Labour Migrants in Asia

• follow-up to the Colombo and Dhaka conferences
• seeks to build and strengthen the capacity of
  governments and enhance cooperation among Asian
  labour sending and receiving countries
• seeks to protect vulnerable migrant workers,
  especially women
• aims to forge greater cooperation among sending
  countries

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Colombo Consultations
Background

• held on April 1 and 2, 2003 in Colombo, Sri Lanka
• a forum to share experiences, discuss issues and
  identify steps for follow-up in the form of
  recommendations
• participants Bangladesh, China, India,
  Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri
  Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam
• areas
• Protection of Migrant Workers and Services to
  Migrant Workers
• Optimising Benefits of Organised Labour Migration
• Institutional Capacity Building and Inter-state
  Cooperation
• adopted a Declaration framed around 22
  recommendations

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Colombo Consultations
Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Large proportion of workers from South and South
  East Asia continue to leave for the Gulf States
  to perform all types of service, trade and
  construction jobs.
• There has been a significant flow of
  professionals and technical workers to North
  America and Europe, especially in the IT and
  nursing sectors.
• There has also been a rapid growth in
  intra-regional labour migration, with flows
  particularly from South East Asia to the
  developed or emerging East Asian economies.
• Female migration increased over the last decade.
• A large proportion of female migrants is employed
  in low-skill and low-wage sectors such as
  domestic work and entertainment.

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Colombo Consultations
Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Essential Areas of Migration Management
• protecting migrant workers from exploitative
  practices in recruitment and employment and
  providing appropriate services to migrant workers
• optimising benefits of organised labour migration
• building institutional capacity and
  inter-ministerial coordination to meet labour
  migration challenges
• increasing cooperation with destination counties
  in protection of migrant workers, access to
  labour markets and prevention of illegal migration

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Colombo Consultations
Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Protection of and Provision of Services to
  Migrant Workers
• Ensuring the human rights of all migrants
• Promoting the signing and ratification of the
  1990 Convention on the Rights of All Migrant
  Workers and Their Families
• Developing regulatory frameworks to prevent
  malpractice and abuses
• Host country responsibility to ensure foreign
  labour participation in its economy is authorized
  and protected
• Protection of domestic workers and female
  migrants
• Developing pre-departure orientation programmes
• Establishing Migrant Advocacy and Welfare Centres
  in receiving countries
• Creating a study committee to provide benchmarks
  for decent wages

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Colombo Consultations
Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Optimising Benefits of Organised Labour Migration
  
• Simplifying procedures and regulations to
  facilitate labour migration
• Developing policies to increase flow of
  remittances
• Developing strategies that tap the human capital
  of returning migrants
• Developing opportunities for technical training
  and skills development to prospective migrant
  workers
• Reducing recruitment and transfer fee costs for
  money transfers
• Undertaking information campaigns to inform
  migrants about remittance channels, risks of
  irregular migration and regular migration options
  and procedures

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Colombo Consultations
Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Capacity Building, Data Collection and
  Inter-State Cooperation
• Requesting IOM and ILO to develop training course
  on labour migration administration
• Exchanging information on changes in policy and
  related developments
• Establishing regular multilateral consultations
  on labour migration
• Pursue the free movement of natural persons
  between states for employment
• Strengthening inter-state cooperation in
  migration management
• Forging greater cooperation among sending
  countries
• Enhancing dialogue between sending and receiving
  countries

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Manila Consultations
Background

• held on September 22-24, 2004 in Manila,
  Philippines
• a forum to review progress towards the
  implementation of recommendations of the Colombo
  Consultations, identify steps for institutional
  capacity building and share current views and
  experiences in labour migration
• Participants Colombo Ten plus Afghanistan, UK
  DFID, ADB, ILO
• themes
• Protection of Migrant Workers and Provision of
  Services
• Optimizing Development Benefits of Organised
  Labour Migration
• Institutional Capacity Building and Inter-state
  Cooperation

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Manila Consultations
Progress in Implementation

• Protection of Migrant Workers and Provision of
  Services
• Ratification of UN Convention
• Regulatory frameworks to prevent malpractice and
  abuses
• Active dialogue and/or MOUs
• Initiatives for better protection of domestic
  workers and women migrants
• Progress in pre-departure orientations and
  training
• Created or developed network of labour attaches
  or welfare attaches
• Reasonable wage structure for categories of
  migrant workers

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Manila Consultations
Progress in Implementation

• Optimizing Development Benefits of Organized
  Labour Migration
• Simplified procedures/regulation to facilitate
  labour migration
• Mechanisms which facilitate tapping the human
  capital of returnees
• Training programmes on technical skills and
  development
• Initiatives to reduce recruitment costs for
  migration
• Measures to raise awareness on and encourage
  remittance investment
• Information campaigns to reduce irregular
  migration

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Manila Consultations
Progress in Implementation

• Institutional Capacity Building and Inter-State
  Cooperation
• Heavy involvement of states in training-related
  initiatives
• Participation in various multilateral for a on
  labour migration
• Support and pursuance of the issue of free
  movement of natural persons for regular migrants
  in various international for a
• Declaration of support of inter-state dialogue
  primarily through MOUs

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Manila Consultations
IOM-commissioned Papers

• Migrant Welfare Fund
• Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar
• Regulations on Recruitment and Minimum Standard
  Contract
• Migrant Resource Centre
• Training Curriculum
• Remittances
• Technical Training and Skills Development

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Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Protection of Migrant Workers and Provision of
  Services
• Enhancing the efficiency of regulatory frameworks
  and allied measures
• Pre-departure orientation services
• Pilot implementation of a Common Migrant Resource
  Centre, preferably in Kuwait

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Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Optimizing Development Benefits of Organized
  Labour Migration
• Active involvement of states in the facilitation
  and promotion of international labour migration
• Policy initiatives to enhance accessibility
  expanding infrastructural capabilities and widen
  outreach of formal financial institutions
• Enhancing the development impact of remittances
• Baseline and policy-oriented research on
  remittances
• Training and skills development of would-be
  migrants

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Summary of Statements and Recommendations

• Capacity Building, Data Collection and
  Inter-State Cooperation
• Information sharing
• Training and capacity building for labour
  migration management structures particularly
  labour attaches and administrators
• Active cooperation of other states of origin and
  states of employment to protect migrant workers

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Way Ahead

• Labour Attaches Training Course
• Labour Administrators Training Course
• Seminar on Rights and Obligations of Migrants
• Establishment of a Migrant Resource Centre
• Follow-up on the Implementation of the Manila
  Consultations

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Conclusion

• The Manila Consultations
• Focused attention on an area and group of persons
  who need further support, orientation and
  protection
• Will smooth the migration process
• Important step forward toward the formulation of
  common policy on labour migrants for a complete
  and orderly system of labour migration

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THANK YOU AND GOOD DAY!