Roles of Countries of Origin: Phase III
Overview
Mekong Migration Network (MMN) implemented Phase III of the Roles of Countries of Origin project between 2020 and 2024, building on the key findings of the first two phases of the project as well as the growing momentum among stakeholders in countries of origin in enhancing migrant protection mechanisms throughout the migration cycle.
International migrant workers are routinely excluded from the social security systems of destination countries or prevented from accessing their entitlements. Although eligible migrant workers are often a benefit to social security schemes as they make regular contributions, they tend to arrive in destination countries as young adults, and they often leave before retirement age, migrants are generally unable to fully reap the fruits of their contributions. This is due to the nature of temporary labour migration programmes, limited access to accurate information, language barriers, and a lack of transferable benefits.
The issue of migrant workers’ access to social security has been increasingly brought into focus in the region in the past years. In 2022, ASEAN released the Declaration on Portability of Social Security Benefits for Migrant Workers in ASEAN, a key milestone in the development of a more coordinated and migrant-centred approach to social security systems in the region. Through the third phase of the project, MMN has continued to support this growing momentum and ensure that policy makers and other stakeholders in the region take into account the challenges that migrant workers currently face in accessing social security.
As the project began in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, and migrant workers experienced significant upheaval given their limited access to healthcare, lack of job security and precarious immigration status. In particular, migrant workers’ experiences during the global healthcare crisis highlighted the longstanding gaps in the role of countries of origin in protecting and supporting their overseas nationals. With this in mind, MMN expanded the scope of the project to monitor the responses of key stakeholders in countries of origin and make timely intervention to advocate more robust assistance for migrants during this period. Click here to learn more about GMS migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Activities
Between 30 and 31 January 2024, MMN hosted the Third Policy Dialogue on the Roles of Countries of Origin in Supporting Migrants’ Access to Social Security in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, providing a unique platform for stakeholder groups in Mekong countries of origin to identify common issues faced by migrant workers. They also exchanged views on how to coordinate their roles to strengthen the relevant protection mechanisms.
Over 50 participants joined the Policy Dialogue in person or online, including representatives from government and government-affiliated entities, civil society organisations, recruitment agencies, academia, law firms and international organisations from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines.
MMN commenced the current study in 2021, focusing on Mekong migrant workers’ access to the social security systems of Thailand and Japan, and the roles countries of origin can play in safeguarding migrants’ entitlements.
This study was guided by the questions of:
- To what extent are migrant workers knowledgeable of destination country social security systems and what roles do countries of origin play in disseminating information on these systems at different stages of migration?
- What are the experiences of migrants in terms of claiming social security benefits, and what roles do countries of origin play in facilitating and assisting migrants’ access to these benefits at different stages of migration?
- How can countries of origin improve migrant workers’ and their families’ access to the social security systems of destination countries at different stages of migration?
On 15 and 16 December 2022, MMN convened a Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on Migrants’ Access to Social Security. The workshop provided an opportunity for wide-ranging discussion on the challenges migrants face accessing Thailand’s Social Security System.
The workshop was attended by representatives of relevant ministries of the Thai and Cambodian governments, civil society organisations, the International Labour Organization, migrant worker representatives, and other related stakeholders from Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.
For more information on the workshop, please visit this webpage.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, MMN has taken steps to engage with different stakeholder groups, including governments, recruitment agency associations, CSOs and migrant-supporting groups in the GMS, and migrant communities to jointly develop policy responses and support systems with migrants’ rights and dignity in mind. For more information on our work in this area, please visit our dedicated webpage.
On 22 November 2021, MMN further launched the report, “Surviving the Pandemic: To Stay or Go? A study into the decision-making of Mekong migrants”, which provides an in-depth analysis of migrant decision-making amid the wave of redundancies and border closures brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The report also looks at the gaps in the responses of countries of origin in supporting their overseas nationals during the healthcare crisis.
Amid the ongoing pandemic, MMN launched the report at an online event, drawing more than 80 stakeholder representatives from Thailand and the region.
For more information on the launch, please visit this webpage.
As Japan considers granting more migrant workers a pathway to permanent residence, MMN convened a workshop attended by more than 90 representatives from key migration stakeholders, including officials from the governments of Japan, Cambodia and Vietnam; intergovernmental organizations; migration advocates; recruitment agencies; employers; and academic experts, on 24 November 2021.
The workshop provided an opportunity for diverse voices in Japan and the two important countries of origin, Cambodia and Vietnam, to share their perspectives and jointly develop strategies on some of the pressing issues facing migrant workers under Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program and its newly expanded Specified Skilled Workers scheme.
In particular, participants sought solutions to ongoing problems surrounding the steep recruitment fees paid by migrants to work in Japan and obstacles relating to information dissemination on matters such as healthcare, an urgent issue given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
For more information on the workshop, please visit this webpage.
MMN held a series of five Focus Group Discussions (FGD) between July and October 2022, in which migrant workers from Myanmar and Cambodia shared their experiences accessing support from their country of origin and navigating documentation processes in Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic. MMN and its partners also took the opportunity to provide updates on the latest migration policies as well as illuminating the rights entitled to migrant workers.
The FGDs were held in partnership with MAP Foundation in Chiang Mai (July 2022) and Mae Sot (August 2022), Foundation for Education Development in Phang Nga (July 2022), Raks Thai Fountation in Samut Sakhon (August 2022) and Legal Support for Children and Women in Chonburi (October 2022). The FGDs in all locations were separately attended by eight migrants of each gender, who represent a diverse set of experiences across a number of work sectors, including services, fishery, manufacturing, agriculture, among others.
For more information on the FGDs, please refer to this webpage.
Project Partners
- Legal Support for Children and Women, Cambodia;
- MAP Foundation, Thailand;
- Foundation for Education and Development, Thailand;
- Raks Thai Foundation, Thailand;
- Future Light Center, Myanmar; and
- Center for Development and Integration, Vietnam
