The Department of Labour, Ministry of Home Affairs recently hosted the 14th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) on 06 and 08 September 2021 and attended the 17th ASEAN Senior Labour Official Meeting (17th SLOM) on 9th September 2021 and 19th ASEAN+3 Senior Labour Officials Meeting (19th SLOM+3) on 10 September 2021.
The AFML is an annual platform event to review, discuss and exchange good practices and initiatives between Governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, and civil society stakeholders on key issues facing migrant workers in the ASEAN region and to develop key recommendations aligned to the principles of the ASEAN Declaration on Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. Each year the AFML is hosted by the ASEAN Committee on implementation of the ASEAN Declaration of Protection and promotion of the right of migrant workers (ACMW) of the current ASEAN chair with support from the ASEAN Secretariat and includes expert presentations by the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and Task Force on ASEAN Migrant Workers (TFAMW).
The two-day Forum was chaired by Yang Mulia Awang Muhammad Saufi bin Haji Ibrahim,Commissioner of Labour, and attended by senior officers from the Department of Labour. More than 100 participants attended the virtual Forum which include representatives from the ACMW of the ten (10) ASEAN Member States, the ASEAN Secretariat as well as representatives from regional employers’ federations, workers’ unions, local and overseas civil society organizations as well as observing participants from the Governments of Australia, Canada and Switzerland.
The Department of Labour also attended the 17th ASEAN Senior Labour Official Meeting (17th SLOM) and the 19th ASEAN+3 Senior Labour Officials Meeting(19th SLOM + 3), held virtually on 09 and 10 September 2021 respectively. The Meeting was hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and chaired by Mr Anwar Sanusi, Secretary General Ministry of Manpower Indonesia.
During the meeting, ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat shared updates on the progress and status of completed, on-going and planned projects and activities under the ActionWork Plan and consider possible cooperation with ASEAN partners on labour migration related projects.
During the 17th SLOM, Brunei Darussalam as the chair of ACMW for 2021 reported on the progress of work and initiatives of the ACMW on the implementation of the ASEAN Consensus on Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Worker. The Terms of Reference of AFML and 14th AFML Recommendations had also been discussed and consulted during the meeting where the ACMW of the 10 AMS took note and exchanged views with the SLOM Chair.
The next meeting of 18th SLOM and 20th SLOM+3 is scheduled to be hosted by the Philippines in 2022.
The two-day Meeting was attended by Yang Mulia Awang Muhammad Saufi bin Haji Ibrahim, Commissioner of Labour, as head of delegation and also attended bysenior officers from the Department of Labour.
