By Shiwei Ye
Migrant workers
represent one of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups in the world.
Recognizing this acute vulnerability, in 1990 the UN General Assembly adopted
the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW). In the 20 years since, while
some progress has been made to strengthen the protection regime at various
levels, in practice, migrant workers remain largely unprotected. This is
especially the case in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
region, where the Convention has been ratified by only one country (the
Philippines) and signed by just two others (Cambodia and Indonesia).
