CLMTV highlights protection of workers’ rights

Laos will continue to cooperate with regional and development partners to protect migrant workers’ rights, a conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia was told last week.
Conducted under the theme ‘Toward the Protection of Migrant Workers in CLMTV Countries: Cooperation in Social Security’, the opening of the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Labour Cooperation in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (CLMTV) on September 17 was presided over by Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Hun Sen.

Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Dr Khampheng Saysompheng told the conference that Laos is focusing on the protection of migrant workers’ rights and implementing a national social protection policy which included a social assistance system. All migrant workers had rights when it comes to negotiating their working conditions, and these rights can be upheld by strengthening the legal mechanisms that govern workers’ status, he said. In addition, workers had improved employment security with the social protection floor, and social dialogue in Laos was being strengthened by developing a labour force based on economic structure, promoting employment services and selfemployment, strengthening workers’ protection, and enhancing industrial relations.
The conference discussed progress in labour cooperation to provide appropriate job opportunities, and addressed the protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights in accordance with the 2007 Asean Declaration on Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in Cebu, the Philippines, and the 2017 Asean Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in Manila, the Philippines.
During the conference, the five Asean countries agreed on legal frameworks and cooperation in social security to protect migrant workers.
The senior officials discussed cooperation in job security among the five countries to protect migrant workers and sought a joint framework on a mobile social security scheme for migrant workers.

By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
(Latest Update September 23, 2019)