The Jakarta Post, ASEAN, 15 November 2022 - Central banks from five ASEAN member states have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on regional cross-border payments between countries, in a move that will bring multiplier effects to people and businesses within the region.
The agreement, signed in Bali on Monday, involves Bank Indonesia (BI), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank of Thailand (BOT).
The cooperation will allow the use of QR codes to facilitate transactions among five ASEAN countries, an innovation previously only available between Indonesia and Thailand.
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South China Morning Post, China, 15 November 2022 - Many organisations aspire to long-term growth, but a charity offering support and shelter to exploited female migrant workers in Hong Kong has a vision of a different kind.
“I dream that one day we can close down,” said Edwina Antonio-Santoyo, executive director of the Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge.
“That would be when the conditions for migrant workers in Hong Kong have improved so much that they don’t need a shelter like us any more,” she explained.
But for now, the organisation has its work cut out to meet the growing demand for its services amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Online Khabar, Nepal, 15 November 2022 - By coincidence, the general elections in both Nepal and Malaysia, one of the biggest hosts for Nepali migrant workers, are scheduled to run one day apart from each other this weekend. Not surprisingly, in both cases, local citizens and foreign observers are paying close attention not only to the competing candidates and party manifestoes but also to the likely political shifts that will happen after the elections.
How do Nepali migrant workers based in Malaysia, as well as their families back home, view this important event? Drawing from conversations with six Nepali migrant workers as well as some stay-behind families (parents, wives, and teenage children), this article presents a slice of some of their observations and concerns.
As shown below, elections have become a regular topic among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia with their families back home.
“Most Nepali workers here (in Malaysia) follow closely the political situation back home including the elections. But, I feel frustrated because I am here and can’t do much. I can only watch the elections from afar,” a male migrant worker from the Lumbini province who has not voted for 10 years says.
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Vietnam Plus, Vietnam, 15 November 2022 - The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on November 14 announced a study report on women migrant workers in ASEAN countries’ laws and policies.
At the report announcement ceremony, representatives from ASEAN's specialised agencies on labour and women, the ASEAN Secretariat, and international organisations made recommendations to affirm the rights of female migrant workers, promote the role of trade unions, and create a mechanism to support the participation of this group in policy making.
They stressed the need to increase the organisation of training courses for those workers before labour export, set up hotlines to provide support for them, and develop a common policy framework for the ASEAN region.
Director of ILO Vietnam Ingrid Christensen and European Union Ambassador to Vietnam Giorgio Aliberti affirmed that this event was an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and set forth practical solutions, promote inter-sectoral cooperation to strengthen the power and better protect migrant workers in each country receiving and sending labourers and across the region.
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This report presents a summary of the forthcoming technical report on a 2020–21 review of Australia’s Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) and New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, which are available to citizens of Pacific island countries (PICs). This review was carried out as part of the project “Enhancing Protection and Empowerment of Migrants and Communities Affected by Climate Change and Disasters in the Pacific Region”, otherwise known as the Pacific Climate Change Migration and Human Security Programme, led by the International Organization for Migration alongside the ILO, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, with the Platform on Disaster Displacement and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The review consists of two components. The first component is a legal review of the SWP and the RSE that considers the extent to which the policies and laws under which these schemes operate are consistent with international human rights standards, including international labour standards. The second component is a review of the two schemes in practice, particularly from the point of view of the seasonal workers, based on interviews with seasonal workers in four participating PICs – Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu – and consultations with key stakeholders (see list in the Annex). Based on the legal review and the review of the schemes in practice, recommendations are presented for improving recruitment practices and labour standards, enhancing the participation of women and marginalized groups, and increasing the degree to which the schemes are consistent with international human rights and labour law. After summarizing the main findings of the technical report, the principal emphasis of this summary report is on the recommendations.
This policy brief is part of the ILO Just Transition Policy briefs series and is intended to present the linkages between just transition and labour migration and human mobility, providing stakeholders with information and recommendations for implementation.
This brief draws from the findings of research titled "A very beautiful but heavy jacket: The experiences of migrant workers with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression in South-East Asia", which aims to fill the gap in knowledge about the experiences and motivations of migrant workers with diverse SOGIE in South-East Asia.
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