Bali (Indonesia) ILO News – The 16th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) concluded on Friday (December 9) with a call for governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations in the region to do more to promote inclusive growth, social justice and decent work. At the closing ceremony of the APRM, delegates from 37 countries – including Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE – agreed a “Bali Declaration ” which outlines policy priorities in the world of work in the years ahead.“Governments, employers and workers in the region agree that action to promote decent work fosters inclusive growth and social justice, stimulates economic dynamism and innovation, and drives sustainable development,” the Declaration states.
The Declaration outlines a number of policy priorities, including one on labour migration governance, and delegates asked the ILO to report back on progress towards achieving the Bali Declaration every two years.
On labour migration, delegates recognized migrant workers as a disadvantaged category of workers in need of targeted efforts at promoting decent work, and agreed to work on enhancing labour migration policies in accordance with international labour standards, especially those concerning fair recruitment principles.
These include not charging recruitment fees or related costs to workers and allowing them to keep their own identity and travel documents. Protection measures should be provided, including arrangements to improve portability of skills and social security. Delegates also agreed to redress employer-worker relationships that amount to bonded labour, and safeguard migrant workers’ freedom of movement, their right to terminate employment or change employers, and to return freely to their countries of origin.
“As such, the Bali Declaration offers guidance to implement the Fair Migration Agenda in the interrelated regions of Asia and the Arab States in the years to come,” said Hans van de Glind, the ILO’s Senior Migration Specialist for Arab States.
During the conference deliberations, and in a variety of sessions, many delegates touched upon the plight of migrant workers and the benefits they help generate.
The meeting featured a plenary session on fair recruitment that included a presentation on the recently adopted ILO General principles and operational guidelines on fair recruitment , a perspective from a destination country in the Arab States, and a perspective on changing the culture of low-skilled migrant workers paying recruitment fees. The latter was based on an ILO white paper by Dr. Ray Jureidini . All perspectives and the discussion that ensued are covered in a summary report .
http://www.ilo.org/beirut/media-centre/news/WCMS_537953/lang–en/index.htm
