Protecting and Integrating Migrant Workers in ASEAN Social Security Systems

This paper considers how social security systems in Southeast Asia may be adapted in order to improve the level of protection and integration of low-skilled migrant workers and to facilitate the mobility of workers, without negatively affecting the economic situation in the region. This involves a discussion of existing unilateral, bilateral and multilateral arrangements within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Best practices within ASEAN countries, such as the Philippines, and examples of bilateral agreements involving ASEAN countries containing social security provisioning, are examined against the backdrop of the developing international and regional standards framework. The role of countries of origin in providing social protection for migrant workers and the portability of benefits is also briefly discussed. It is submitted that a co-ordinated, integrated yet streamlined approach may be able to provide solutions and options for excluded categories of migrant workers and their family members, including informal economy workers and undocumented migrants. All of this needs to be supported by suitable regulatory and institutional arrangements which inform and facilitate the adoption of key interventions at a national, bilateral and regional level to enhance the social security position of ASEAN migrant workers and, to the extent required, their families.