Research Report – Omitted from the Safety Net: How Migrant Workers Experience and Understand “Social Protection” in East and Southeast Asia (2024)
Release Statement:
Ahead of two very important days recognising contributions migrant workers make and their rights as workers – International Day of Family Remittances and International Domestic Workers’ Day – both celebrated on 16th June, we are very proud to launch our report ‘Omitted from the Safety Net: How Migrant Workers Experience and Understand “Social Protection” in East and Southeast Asia’.
This report is one of few pieces of research carried out by and together with migrant communities who are concerned about and impacted by the issue examined, in this case, social protection for migrant workers. In this report, we examined social protection schemes available to migrant workers in four different destinations for migrant workers in Asia (Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, and Hong Kong), reflecting on the experiences of migrant workers in these locations. We used Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a method of this work, through which migrant workers, migrant activists, academics and civil society practitioner ran the whole research process including developing the research design, collecting data, and the coding process. Organisations that participated in this research as research collaborators are Serve the People Association in Taiwan, Kakehashi in Japan, Pertemig in Malaysia, and the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Hong Kong. The project was supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Human Rights Working Group, Indonesia.
Despite the right to social protection being recognised in a number of international human rights instruments, the lived experiences of migrant workers in this report has shown that there is a significant lack of available social protection for many migrant workers. The report highlights seven main areas of impediment to migrant workers’ access to social protection: a) language barriers and limited knowledge, b) absence of social support and lack of social mobility, c) inadequate materials for training, pre-departure, and arrival orientation, d) inadequate health insurance coverage and psychological factors, e) document withholding and coercion, f) unclear and unfulfilled agreements in contracts, and g) undocumented status.
Having worked with migrant communities, many of whom are domestic workers or breadwinners of their families in their home country, the findings of this research are very important to be highlighted in relation to the International Day of Family Remittance and International Domestic Workers’ Day, both observed this Sunday (16th June). Our findings suggest that recognition of migrant workers contributions in all sectors and ensuring protection of fundamental human rights and labour rights for all migrant workers regardless of their immigration status are essential in order to leave no one behind while providing social protection. It is also important to recognise that migrant workers who leave their countries for work are the breadwinners of their families. Hence, the provision of welfare must also consider the coverage for vulnerable members of their families.
Our recommendations include calls for non-discriminatory social protection policies, widening of access to information and training, elimination of labour exploitation, and consideration for social cost of migration, particularly the impact for family members of migrant workers. For all of these, efforts to ensure rights to social protection must consider four essential aspects: availability, adequacy, affordability, and accessibility. Furthermore, collaboration between national governments, governmental agencies, local authorities, private sector actors, migrant communities, workers’ unions and civil society organisations is essential.
We commend the report and its recommendations to all those who have a stake in ensuring social protection for migrant workers to ensuring that migrant workers are treated with no less dignity and respect for their rights to social protection than other workers whether at home or abroad.
In solidarity and celebration of International Day of Family Remittances and International Domestic Workers’ Day.
BEBESEA Secretariat
