Singapore's Manpower Ministry Hosts Inaugural Asean Workshop on Eliminating Recruitment Malpractices
The Ministry of Manpower, Singapore, is hosting the ASEAN Workshop on Eliminating Recruitment Malpractices from 29 – 30 April 2010. This workshop will kick off a series of workshops across ASEAN with the focus on enhancing labour migration.
2. Migrant labour is an increasingly important global issue affecting both labour import and export countries. While it benefits both the host country and the country of origin, the migration process also brings about many challenges, one of which is the exploitation of lower skilled workers. These challenges cannot be addressed by countries in isolation, but requires multilateral cooperation. The series of workshops aim to bridge ASEAN member states and provide a platform for exchange of views and sharing of best practices.
3. Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Manpower, Mr Lee Yi Shyan, who graced the opening of the workshop said, "With the global transport and communication connectivity, transnational workers are crossing borders in numbers larger than ever before. This has brought opportunities to ASEAN countries in the form of remittances and the availability of human capital. However, labour migration has also presented a number of challenges to ASEAN countries. This workshop therefore comes at an opportune time, for ASEAN countries to take stock of their measures to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers, and share best practices and learning points with each other."
4. The workshop will see close to 30 representatives from the International Labour Organisation, ASEAN Secretariat and government officers from each ASEAN member country. They will come together to discuss and share their perspectives and experiences on issues relating to recruitment malpractices, their Governments' efforts to tackle the challenges and also present examples of good recruitment practices implemented by employment agents and employers in their respective countries.
5. There will also be breakout sessions where participants will brainstorm and propose recommendations to address these malpractices and explore ways to enhance cooperation between ASEAN member states on the labour migration process. The best practices shared at the workshop will be included in a policy repository on the ASEAN web portal to raise awareness of each ASEAN state's migrant worker practices. This will serve as a reference for countries to learn and adopt best practices domestically.
6. Participants will also be visiting a purpose-built foreign worker dormitory as part of the programme, to get a glimpse of proper accommodation facilities for foreign workers in Singapore.