SEANF Paper on Migrant Workers II. Regional recommendations to the ACMW and the ACMW Drafting Committee on the ASEAN Instrument on Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers The ASEAN Charter sets out that all ASEAN member states shall act in accordance with a set of principles, including “respect for fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the promotion of social justice” and “upholding the United Nations Charter and international law, including international humanitarian law, subscribed to by ASEAN Member States.” The Charter further commits ASEAN governments to “enhance the well-being and livelihood of the peoples of ASEAN by providing them with equitable access to opportunities for human development, social welfare, and justice” and “…enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms...” The SEANF’s recommendations are made in accordance with these laudable principles. A. Coverage of Regional Instrument, Non-Discrimination and “National Treatment” 1. The SEANF strongly recommends that the Drafting Committee should ensure the scope and coverage of the ASEAN Instrument address all issues relating to migrant workers. The scope and coverage of the Instrument should be in line with Article 7 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW). 3 ASEAN should use the ICRMW standard, which is firmly in accordance with Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which proclaims “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” For clarity, the ICRMW definition of a migrant worker is “a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national.” 4 3 Article 7: “States Parties undertake, in accordance with the international instruments concerning human rights, to respect and to ensure to all migrant workers and members of their families within their territory or subject to their jurisdiction the rights provided for in the present Convention without distinction of any kind such as to sex, race, colour, language, religion or conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth or other status.” 4 The SEANF has no objections to the use of the exemptions to the definition of “migrant worker” set out in Article 3 of the ICRMW. 13