STATEMENT OF THE UNITED FOR FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKER’S RIGHTS TO THE MEMBER GOVERNMENTS OF ASEAN On the occasion of the 3rd ASEAN Civil Society Conference, Singapore, 2-4 November 2007

We, a coalition of six regional and international civil society organisations working with migrant domestic workers in Southeast Asia, recall:

1. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights 1948 to which all the ASEAN Member Countries have acceded to 

2. The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 1979, which all ASEAN Governments have signed

3. The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work 1998

4. The ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (the Declaration) signed by the Heads of State / Government of the ASEAN Member Countries at the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines.

5. The Cooperation Agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Secretariat and the International Labour Office, 2007

And recognize that:

1. Domestic work is now the most common form of wage employment for women in Asia and is an important source of wage employment for men and women in Southeast Asia (ILO, 2006)
2. Hundreds of thousands of those working as domestic workers in Southeast Asia are migrants from other Southeast Asian nations. They work each day to provide cleaning, cooking, childcare and caring services, work that when undertaken outside of the home is recognized as work
3. The abuse and mistreatment of migrant workers in Southeast Asia is now common knowledge and has been recorded in countless newspaper articles and research reports, as well as in the personal testimonies of individual migrant workers
4. It is the right of everyone to leave their country in safety and to work in decent conditions
5. Where sectors of the labour market are left without protections and abuses are tolerated, the conditions are ripe for serious exploitation to occur, leading to an increase in human trafficking in the region.

We urge ASEAN Member States, as a matter of urgency, to demonstrate leadership and foresight and move to prevent the further increase of abuse and inhumane treatment of migrant domestic workers by:

1. RECOGNISING DOMESTIC WORK UNDER NATIONAL LABOR LAWS

Given the economic contribution of domestic workers to all of our societies in Southeast Asia, it is simply unacceptable and without any basis to exclude these workers from national labour laws and the protections they provide. Including such workers in the labour framework will set a standard of treatment that is on par with standards for workers in other sectors, and also even the balance between employers and workers, thus reducing abuse.

2. ENSURING MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS HAVE A DAY OFF

No other worker is allowed or expected to work seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Such conditions are rightly considered inhumane and unjust. Further, it denies the worker any opportunity to have a social, cultural and family life, in further violation of their human rights. And, crucially, if workers have no time off from their employers they have no way to seek help if they find themselves in abusive situations. Providing domestic workers with a day off is not only a human right but is an essential step to protecting other rights.

3. ENSURING ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Access to justice for those migrant domestic workers who are underpaid, abused or otherwise exploited is abysmal. A tiny proportion of cases reach the courts and for those that do, the lack of legal protections in the form of labour laws and a fair contract means that the abuse is difficult to prove. Seeking a just remedy is particularly difficult for migrant women, because to stay in the country and take their case they are denied the right to work and thus have no means to support themselves of their families at home.

3. RECOGNISING THE VULNERABLE SITUATION OF FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS AND THEIR NEED FOR LEGAL PROTECTION IN THE ASEAN MULTILATERAL FRAMEWORK

The Multilateral Framework is a valuable opportunity for establishing the standards and mechanisms for the protection of migrant workers, realizing the goals aspired to in the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. As one of the largest groups of migrants within ASEAN, it is essential that the specific needs of domestic workers are included in this document.

4. HARMONISING NATIONAL LAWS AND POLICIES IN LINE WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

While we respect the normative principles established by the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, we strongly urge governments to move from this starting point and bring national laws into line with these principles and international standards. Expanding the reach of basic human rights protections to undocumented workers is absolutely essential. 

United for Foreign Domestic Workers’ Rights

Comprising:
Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD);
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM);
Coordinate Action Research on AIDS and Mobility in ASIA (CARAM Asia);
Global Alliance Against Trafficking of Women (GAATW); and
Mekong Migration Network (MMN).

Other organisations signing on the Statement at ACSC-3:
Homenet SEA
Home Singapore
Pongsit Area Labour Unions, Thailand
Runsit And Area Labor Unions, Thailand
Transient Workers Count Too Singapore
Solidaritas Migran Scalabrini, Indonesia
Centre for Environment, Gender and Development, City University, Hong Kong
Migrant CARE, Indonesia
Solidaritas Perempuan, Indonesia

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