South China Morning Post - 18 December 2012. Hundreds of domestic helpers marched through Hong Kong on Sunday, demanding recognition of their labour rights ahead of International Migrants Day on December 18.
Malaysia Chronicle - 18 December 2012. This International Migrants’ Day, we remember the hundreds of thousands of migrant women who raised and continue to raise millions of Malaysian children; who care for the elderly; who clean our homes & clothes; who cook and who carry out the countless chores that need to be done so that our lives are managed and made all the more easier.
Jakarta Post - 18 December 2012. Members of advocacy groups focused on workers and women rights such as Migrant Care and Kapal Perempuan (Women's ship) demanded the government to take firm action to protect Indonesian migrant workers during International Migrants Day on Tuesday.
Bangkok Post - 18 December 2012. More than 300,000 immigrant workers will be deported after the nationality verification (NV) deadline ended on Friday last week. Pravit Khiengpol, chief of the Department of Employment, said migrant workers who failed to apply for NV by the deadline are now required to report to immigration offices at border provinces to be deported.
Bangkok Post - 17 December 2012. Labour rights activists will take advantage of International Migrants Day tomorrow to lobby the government to improve social welfare benefits for migrant workers.
Al Jazeera - 30 November 2012. The deaths of thousands of migrant workers in recent years bring Malaysia's safety standards into question.
Pnomh Penh Post - 10 December 2012. More than 160,000 Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand stand to be deported if they have not registered by a December 14 deadline, potentially exposing them to abuses at the hands of employers and authorities, according to civil society.
Bangkok Post - 11 December 2012. The Dec 14 nationality verification (NV) deadline for migrant workers has offered fresh opportunities for corruption and illegal practices, a migrant rights advocate has warned.
BBC News - 9 December 2012. Taiwan's government wants to open up its economy to more immigrant workers. The government recently decided to allow companies to hire more migrant workers, raising the limit on foreign workers at a firm to 40% from the previous limit of 35%. With the relaxed rules, some 80,000 more migrant workers could come here adding to the 450,000 that are already working in Taiwan.
NY Times - 3 December 2012. Malaysia must punish the recruitment agents accused of forcing more than 100 foreign women to work as domestic help without pay and enforce laws to protect migrant workers, the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and a migrant workers’ support group said on Monday.
Bangkok Post - 30 November 2012. An estimated 1 million legal and illegal migrant workers from Myanmar who have yet to apply for nationality verification ahead of the Dec 14 deadline could face deportation. Despite the large numbers, the Employment Department will close all national verification centres and deport migrant workers who fail to undergo the verification process by Dec 14.
Migrante International - 29 November 2012. The first ever International Migrants’ Tribunal found 37 migrant-sending and -receiving States, including the Philippines, guilty of perpetuating modern-day slavery on migrant workers. The Tribunal was held at the University of the Philippines College of Law on November 28-29. It was attended by at least 300 delegates from the Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, Australia, Latin America and United States.
migrantrights.org - 29 November 2012. On Tuesday, the International Labor Organization (ILO) along with Lebanon’s Ministry of Labor launched an interactive web guide for migrant domestic workers. The website features a number of innovative resources for Lebanon’s domestic workers and relevant NGOs. The ILO produced a report, “Working with migrant domestic workers in Lebanon (1980s-2012)”, alongside the website’s launch, which seeks to improve the services provided by Lebanese NGOs that cater to domestic workers.
Bangkok Post - 26 November 2012. In an increasingly mobile world, countries need much more reliable information on who’s working where, what jobs need filling and what they pay. It is time for each country in Asean to set up a labour market information system to help manage the challenges posed by increasing worker mobility and to resolve labour shortages in various countries and industries, say experts.
The Himalayan - 26 November 2012. KATHMANDU: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has stressed the need of collective efforts to ensure the rights of migrant workers and expressed his concern over the wretched human rights condition of migrant Nepali workers while adressing conference organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the president sought a significant role of the human rights commissions of the world in the respective countries to guarantee their rights.
