Social security for migrant workers will be the theme of the 9th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) hosted by the Laos Government in November this year. — Photo thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn

HÀ NỘI — Social security for migrant workers will be the theme of the 9th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) hosted by the Laos Government in November this year.

The information was announced in the national preparatory meeting for the forum held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) in Hà Nội yesterday.

The AFML has been organised annually since 2008. Those gathered discuss, share experiences, build consensus on the protection of migrant workers’ issues under the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers – the Cebu Declaration in 2007 – and conclude with the adoption of recommendations that bring life to the provisions of the Cebu Declaration.

Lê Kim Dung, the director of the Department of International Cooperation under the MoLISA, said the purpose of the national preparatory meeting was to check national-level activities to implement recommendations of the previous forums.

Experts at the meeting also discussed the recommendations which Việt Nam will present at the coming AFML, when other ASEAN countries present their own recommendations.

Migrant workers make considerable contributions to countries’ economic growth and sustainable development. So Việt Nam and other ASEAN countries are paying increasing attention to protecting the legal rights and social security of migrant workers and their families, according to Dung.

Chang-Hee Lee, the director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Office for Việt Nam, said ILO supports preparatory meetings like this to allow wider participation of national social partners, civil society organisations and related government ministries in ASEAN.

“When migrant workers are better protected by legal frameworks and effective enforcement, safe and profitable migration is more likely to make economic and social contributions to Việt Nam and to our region,” Lee said. — VNS