4 March 2013 - Phuket News. The Ministry of Public Health on Thursday revealed it was seeking appropriate forms of health insurance for foreigners in preparation for the formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.
4 March 2013 - Minivannews.com. An immigration shelter intended to temporarily house unregistered and illegal immigrants is now up and running in Male’ as part of the government’s efforts to provide a more “humane” means of tackling immigration problems in the country.
4 March 2013 - migrant-rights.org. These reports only represent a small fraction of actual abuses against migrant workers, as most cases are not reported to authorities or circulated by local media. Though not all workers suffer the extent of physical or verbal abuse reported here, micro-aggressions (such as discrimination) is normalized and accounts for the frequency of these violations.
1 March 2013 - Ft.com. The tens of millions of dollars handled by small money transfer businesses throughout Asia and elsewhere highlights a record surge in remittances from migrant workers to their home countries in recent years.
1 March 2013 - Financial Express, Dhaka. Bahrain has agreed to recruit Bangladeshi workers under a state-to-state arrangement with a view to lowering the cost involved in migration and avoiding the alleged unscrupulous practices often indulged in by a section of private manpower recruiting agencies.
1 March 2013 - zawya.com. Migrant worker housing project, a concept originated at Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar's (VCU-Q) biennial design conference, Tasmeem Doha, is ready to share architectural designs with organisations.
1 March 2013 - Sun Star. MIGRANTS rights group Migrante on Tuesday called on all undocumented Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia to apply for its amnesty program. Also expressing his elation to this development, Migrante Middle East spokesman John Leonard Monterona thanked the Saudi government for the “humanitarian act.
28 February 2013 - Republica. The Saudi government has decided to grant amnesty to illegal foreign workers, providing them opportunity to leave the desert kingdom without getting panelized.
28 February 2013 - National News Bureau of Thailand. Thailand is on course to push forward with more rigorous efforts to clampdown on human trafficking. Deputy Government Spokesperson Chalitrat Chandrubeksa said that the Cabinet on Wednesday approved an urgent master plan designed to enable the government to implement more anti-human trafficking plans in 2013.
28 February 2013 - National News Bureau of Thailand. The Public Health Ministry has announced that it is from now on taking care of migrant workers’ health, with an emphasis on contagious disease control in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.
27 February 2013 - Eurasia Review. The exodus of many Rohingya over the past year has brought increased international awareness to their plight, as well as Southeast Asia’s inability to deal effectively with forced migration. A regional approach is needed to find a durable solution to the influx of Rohingya boat people.
27 February 2013 - Financial Times blog. Thailand’s attempt to register around 1.5m illegal migrant workers by the middle of next month is causing more problems than it might solve. The deadline for workers to apply for permits has been extended – but with employers reluctant to apply on behalf of workers, and workers forced to jump through several expensive bureaucratic hoops, there are still 1m yet to complete their registration. Hanging over the process is the threat of deportation – and worries for business.
26 February 2013 - CNN. In a case that brought to light issues of unfair pay and poor living conditions among foreign workers in Singapore, a court sentenced four Chinese nationals to several weeks in prison for instigating an "illegal" strike in late November.
26 February 2013 - Daily Mirror. A majority of participants in an open forum called for restrictions on migration to countries which do not have strong bi-lateral agreements with Sri Lanka with regards to the safety and protection of rights of Sri Lankan migrant workers.
26 February 2013 - BBC News. Indians working abroad continue to send more money home than their counterparts from other countries.
