As Cambodia is holding the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN in 2022, Cambodian Minister of Labour and Vocational Training H.E. Ith Samheng urged the bloc’s members to pay extra attention to the interests of migrant workers for their immense sacrifice to bring income home.
He made the call in his remarks at the 15th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour themed “Resumption of Labour Migration and Regional Cooperation” on Oct. 19 in Phnom Penh.
Labour migration is a social phenomenon that happens everywhere, so protecting and promoting the rights of migrant workers is the most important and necessary task of all governments and development partners, he said.
H.E. Minister underlined that the task is more critical than ever as ASEAN is re-opening its labour migration.
As an ASEAN member country, he continued, Cambodia has set out policies and legal documents to protect the rights and interests of both Cambodian migrant workers who work abroad and foreign migrant workers who come to work in Cambodia.
Cambodia has also been implementing bilateral agreements on labour cooperation with countries within and outside the region.
Heads of State/Government of the ASEAN Member States adopted the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in 2007 and the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in 2017.
These key documents bring the regional effort to support migrant workers to a new level. The bloc is also expected to adopt in November this year the ASEAN Declaration on Portability of Social Security Benefits for Migrant Workers initiated by Cambodian Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training and approved by the 28th ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Council Meeting held in Phnom Penh last week.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press