The 8th Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights: Migration and Human Rights in ASEAN

The Regional Consultation serves as a platform for strengthening engagement of civil society with the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms, namely the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC); and for discussing the human rights situation in the ASEAN region.

The Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights is an ASEAN civil society initiative led by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and SAPA Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights (TFAHR) . The Regional Consultation serves as a platform for strengthening engagement of civil society with the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms, namely the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC); and for discussing the human rights situation in the ASEAN region.

The 8th Regional Consultation this year will be held in Malaysia from 17-18 August 2015 with specific focus on “Migration and Human Rights in ASEAN”.

The issue of migration in ASEAN has became one of the core issues of ASEAN, as stated in the article  2.6 of the ASEAN Charter, one of the purpose of ASEAN is “to create single market and production base which is stable, prosperous, highly competitive and economically integrated with effective facilitation for trade and investment which there is free flow of goods, services and investment; facilitated movement of business persons, professionals, talents and labour; and freer flow of capital”. Migration of people is viewed as the necessity for achieving its goal as a community.

Recognizing the existing challenges in ensuring protection of the human rights, and also recognizing the various effort towards realizing the protection of the human rights of people in migration as briefly explained above, the key objective of the 8th Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights are:

1. To identify, map and scope the human rights  issues which migrants in the ASEAN region currently face, particularly in the context of the launch of the ASEAN Community in 2015;
2. To provide a platform for human rights dialogue, solidarity and coordination on action for promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants, among civil society, NHRIs, and  other relevant stakeholders in ASEAN region;
3. To provide a platform for dialogue between CSOs and the existing human rights mechanisms of ASEAN, particularly the AICHR and the ACWC.

Different actors and stakeholders in ASEAN have also initiated different efforts towards realizing a safe migration and promoting and protecting the human rights of people in migration.

• The Southeast Asia NHRI Forum (SEANF) has produced a paper on Migrant Workers which recognizes the need for regional cooperation to ensure the protection on migrant workers. Moreover, SEANF has also adopted an MOU on Trafficking on Women and Children in 2010 to strengthen cooperation in providing legal remedies and other forms of interventions .
• The Task Force on Migrant Workers (TFAMW) has submitted a Civil Society Proposal on the ASEAN Framework Instrument on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers to the ACMW to the ACMW . TFAMW also coordinates the civil society participation in the ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML).
• The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) has developed a “Vision for Regional Protection” in response to the lack of a strong and coherent regional framework protecting the rights of forced migrants. The Vision is intended to be a broad high-level statement that sets out what APRRN thinks is achievable in the region within the next 10-20 years.
• Migrant Forum in Asia, a regional network of migrants organizations working to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers, has been engaging in dialogue with representatives of the ASEAN Committee on Migrant Workers to follow up on the implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. The MFA members have also been actively engaging ASEAN member states to adopt a legally binding framework instrument that will provide protection for the rights of migrant workers and members of their families.
• CARAM Asia in in coordination with Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Forum Asia, Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW), Migration Working Group (MWG) and Tenaganita, convened a “Regional Civil Society Consultation on Mixed Migration Flows in and to South East Asia” in Kuala Lumpur (July 2015).

The 8th Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human Rights will be held in Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia, on:

• Day(s)/ date(s) : Monday – Tuesday, 17-18 August 2015
• Venue  : Ramada Plaza Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

For further information, please contact asean@forum-asia.org/asean-online@forum-asia.org