KUALA LUMPUR: Member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should take the opportunity to start developing a more inclusive regional architecture for labour migration within ASEAN.
Senior programme manager (Decent Work and Labour Mobility) at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Benjamin Harkins said this in particular, one that supports safe migration for women and men migrants, enables them to find employment in conditions of decent work.
He said although Covid-19 has undeniably had a dramatic impact on labour migration within ASEAN, it is not likely to change the structural factors that drive mobility.
Harkins said with aging populations, labour shortages in key destination countries, unemployment and low wages in many countries of origin, a regional disparities and development will largely remain.
“Efforts to nationalise the workforce, and labour intensive industries in some ASEAN countries have so far failed to fill that gap. -Bernama
More to come
