Asia Pacific migrants and refugees present their own GCM indicators

Bangkok, Thailand. On November 28, migrants, refugees and advocates held a meeting with members of the Regional UN Network on Migration in Asia and the Pacific to present their indicators on how the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) can truly work for migrants and refugees.

The meeting followed a two-day regional workshop involving 60 grassroots migrants, refugees and advocates from across Asia Pacific and the Middle East to discuss the GCM process, its relevance to urgent concerns of the sector, and develop their own indicators to the GCM. 

In addition to the 60 workshop participants (both attending in-person and online), those who attended the meeting were representatives from the International organisation Migration, Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, International Labour Organization, UN Women, and the Social Development Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. 

After a short round of introduction, Rey Asis of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants provided an overview of the indicators, explaining that, “The indicators were crafted by grassroots migrants and advocates based on their lived experiences and real aspirations… They went through the process of distilling to reflect the range and breadth of concerns and aspirations.”

Asis also highlighted the importance of refugees’ participation in the development of indicators. He said, “We invited refugees because we are no different from each other. Along our migration journey, many of us have become at one point a migrant worker, an asylum seeker or refugee at another, and/or an undocumented migrant. We will continue to advocate to see migrants and refugees in one sector and not separate from each other.”

Asis mentioned that they have divided the indicators into clusters namely: 1) Access to justice; 2) Access to health, education, and all forms of social protection; 3) Women migrants’ rights and welfare; 4) Decent work; 5) Trafficking; and 6) Drivers of migration.

Migrant and Refugee Indicators

The indicators summary was presented by the following: 

Johannie Yan of Mission for Migrant Workers, Hong Kong SAR, in her presentation stated that participants explored the challenges faced by migrants and refugees in accessing justice. She said, “Many migrants are excluded from labor protections due to their immigration status, rendering their rights unrecognized”. She also mentions the discrimination and vulnerability faced by migrants and refugees. “It is imperative for both sending and host countries to develop complaint mechanisms and legal systems that are sensitive to the unique needs of migrants and refugees.”

MD Abdullah al Mamun of OKUP, Bangladesh, mentioned that migrants and refugees are often left behind when it comes to social protection. He emphasized, “It is very important to ensure social protection for the migrants both at the country of destination and country of origin. It must include universal health coverage (UHC) regardless of status.”

Sunita Mainali of Women Rehabilitation Centre, Nepal, stressed the inequality faced by women migrants and refugees. She stated, “Women migrant workers and refugees face systemic social, economic, and health inequities, compounded by Gender Based violence, wage gaps, and exclusion from decision-making”. One of the points that she emphasized is to “ensure the meaningful participation of women migrant workers and refugees in the GCM process through making it accessible and affordable.”

On decent work, Eve of Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association, Thailand, highlighted wage discrimination faced by migrant workers. She explained that “not getting living wages push the migrant workers to fall into the trap of modern slavery where the workers have to work for excessively long hours (approximately 13 hours per day) without getting weekly holidays to get the salary which is barely enough to cover the living expenses… [That is why] enforcement and implementation of minimum wages standard equally for all nationalities (is needed).” 

Gayatri Kandiah of Tenaganita, Malaysia, explained that human trafficking perpetually exploits the current systemic vulnerabilities. She said that migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to the trafficking networks that prey on their desperation to leave due conflict/war, economic reasons and/or climate change. “In response to these growing and concerning issues, these must be a focus in prioritising the protection of migrants rights while addressing the root causes,” she emphasized. “What we need are strengthening protection systems and justice support systems in receiving/destination countries for all migrants regardless of status, ensuring access to free legal assistance, medical, psychosocial, shelter services as well as providing interpretation and a 24-hour complaint mechanism at critical migration points.”

Hanindha Kristy of Beranda Migran, Indonesia, talked about the drivers of migration. “We would like to raise the alarm over the rising number of migrants, refugees, and displaced people that are exposed to the increase of poverty, unemployment, gender-based violence, landlessness, the impacts of climate change, war, and conflicts in many origin countries,” Kristy said in presentation, emphasizing on “eradicating poverty by encouraging the sustainable improvement of home economies, which can generate decent domestic jobs and livelihoods for returning migrant workers.”

An open forum followed with positive responses from members of the UN Migration Network.

The speech of Rey Asis can be found here while the following presentations on the indicators can be found in the following: 1. Access to Justice, 2. Social Protection, 3. Women Migrants’ Rights and Welfare, 4. Decent Work, 5. Trafficking and 6. Drivers of Migration