MIGRANT FORUM IN ASIA (MFA) believes that migrants’ rights are human rights. Documented or undocumented, irrespective of race, gender, class, age and religious belief, migrant workers’ rights are guaranteed by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Protection of Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and other international conventions.

MFA is a regional network of non-government organizations (NGOs), associations and trade unions of migrant workers, and individual advocates in Asia who are committed to protect and promote the rights and welfare of migrant workers.

MIGRANT FORUM IN ASIA

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Programs and Campaigns

Featured Member

Hope Workers Center

A founding member of Migrant Forum in Asia, Hope Workers Center in Chugli, Taiwan works to educate & assist migrants on their rights & lobby the government for fair employment conditions.


Website: https://www.facebook.com/Hope.Workers.Center

Statements

Statement on International Migrants’ Day 2008
On this day, Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) celebrates International Migrants’ Day and calls out to the world to recognize the rights, struggles and contributions of migrants. Over 250 million people worldwide are migrants – living, working, raising families and building communities in places outside their countries of origin. The contributions of migrants are vast and […]
Yes! To protection of migrant Filipina domestic workers, No! To GMA’s Super Maids and Labor Export Program
The Alliance of Migrants and Advocates to Amend RA 8042 (AMEND) and the Network Opposed to Violence Against Women Migrants (NOVA) recognize recent efforts of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to protect migrant Filipina domestic workers (FDWs) by issuing stricter rules regulating their deployment. However, the “protection package” of the DOLE may come […]

Publications

Reports and provisional records from the 100th Session of the ILC
The International Labour Organisation published provisional records concerning decent work for domestic workers. These documents are the results of the two week-long deliberations among governments, employers' and workers' groups at the 100th Session of the International Labour Conference, held on 1-17th June 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland. PR No. 15A - Text of the Convention Concerning […]
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Migrant Forum in Asia Statement to the 100th Session of the International Labour Conference
Thank you, Chair, for this opportunity to address the committee. My name is Ristanti. I have been a migrant domestic worker for 9 years, and I am here today as a member of the delegation of Migrant Forum in Asia, a regional network of NGOs, associations and trade unions of migrant workers, and individual advocates […]
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MFA Delivers Statement to the ILC

On June 2nd, following interventions by 26 of the participating countries of the International Labour Conference (ILC), five NGOs, including Migrant Forum in Asia, were given the opportunity to deliver statements to the social partners.  This provided representatives of international civil society with a platform to present its concerns on remaining contentious points being debated among the employers, workers, and governments as they work towards consensus. 

Central to all of these statements was the need for an understanding that domestic work is real work, worthy of respect, and that domestic workers are workers, like all other workers.  Provisions such as the right to collective bargaining, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the implementation of social security schemes, etc. must all be drafted with this core principle in mind.

Statements were made by the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers, Human Rights Watch, International Christian Youth, Anti-Slavery International, and Migrant Forum in Asia.

Speaking for the MFA delegation, Ristanti, an Indonesian domestic worker employed in Singapore, spoke of the importance of a strong ILO Convention and Recommendation.  “I thank my employer for giving me permission for a two-week leave so that I could be here to address you today.  It is an honour to be a part of this historic moment.  But as I stand here, I know that there are millions of other domestic workers who do not share that privilege.”

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