News Media and Web Journalism Task 2

ASEAN MIGRANT-WORKERS' CARE

(doc: http://vietnamnews.vn/society/242304/asean-unions-unite-to-protect-migrant-workers.html)

Indonesia pushes the government to make sure about migrant-workers’ care since it is really important as the guarantee for the workers for they could get better jobs and treatments in the future. This also becomes the concern in order to face the ASEAN Economic Society (AEC) in the late of 2015 later.

As what had been explained by the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, the urgent of establishing the migrant-workers’ care was still in the process since the members of ASEAN countries should also agree towards the regime itself. Since there were only some of the countries had not been agreed, the society demanded more towards the government in order to finish the regime itself as soon as possible so that they could guarantee themselves in their working countries later.

The  ministry’s director of ASEAN functional cooperation, George Lantu, said that the regime itself was as the follow up of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (Cebu Declaration, 2007). As what had been explained in the declaration that the some unclear “instruments” had not been elaborated more, George said that the government were pushed to make the documents as soon as possible so that the documents could be used as the framework if there would be some problems in the future regarding the migrant-workers’ care.

George, together with Yuyun Wahyuningrum, Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) senior advisor on ASEAN, still questioned about the regime. This was because there might be some flawless in the documents which will make some problems for the migrant workers in the future. Thus, they urged the government not to sign the documents if some of the ASEAN members had not signed it.

The concern about the migrant workers in ASEAN were more increased since the workers had to face the AEC with its complicated regulations. The regulations were more benefitted for those skilled and more experienced, which would cause more problems for those unskilled and unexperienced migrant-workers. The concern also was about the different regulations in each ASEAN country members for migrant workers. That was why the urge of establishing the migrant workers’ care was important as the preparation of facing the AEC soon.