"ASEAN Leaders Sign Commitment Protecting Migrant Workers," 14 November 2017

After a decade, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has finally made progress in ensuring the protection of migrant workers. Southeast Asian leaders closed their 31st ASEAN Summit, which coincides with the golden anniversary of the community, by signing the “ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers” on Tuesday, November 14. President Rodrigo Duterte, representing the Philippines as ASEAN chair, presented the signed document to ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh.

This consensus is a followup document to the "ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers" adopted in January 2007 in Cebu...

Despite being a landmark gain, the consensus was still silent on the issue of undocumented workers. There are around 10 million migrant workers in the region, many of whom are staying in foreign countries without proper papers...