We are delighted to introduce “Proposed Guideline to Protect Migrant Workers’ Rights during Public Health Crisis” which was developed collectively through a joint research conducted as part of BEBESEA initiative on COVID-19 response measures and rights of migrant workers in major East and Southeast Asian destinations in 2020. The proposed guideline was first published in the report of this joint research “Repression and Resilience” (December 2020). 

This is a guideline for protecting rights of migrant workers during a public health crisis using a human rights-based approach, and covers general principles, seven specific areas of rights; rights to healthcare, goods and services; rights to information; rights to decent work and social protection; rights to safe and fair immigration process; rights to be protected from trafficking; rights of workers at remote, private and “hard-to-reach” workplaces; rights to safe living conditions, and finally roles of civil society and international and cross-regional cooperation. 

Recommendations are based on the research findings but also kept broad enough to be adopted for and used for advocacy work at various levels in every migrant workers’ destination. It is hoped to be used as reference dealing with the continuing outbreak and recovery from COVID-19 and in preparation for any future public health crisis.

Download the Proposed Guideline: here

Download the report “Repression and Resilience”: here