SEANF Paper on Migrant Workers workers. The good employers who follow the labour laws, and treat their migrant workers with dignity, will be rewarded when the most skilled migrant workers seek to work for them. Meanwhile, those employers who violate regulations and are abusive (and hence pose continual difficulties for government regulators) will have a difficult time recruiting and retaining migrant workers. F. Freedom from forced labour / human trafficking 17. The SEANF recommends that ASEAN Instrument should call for all ASEAN member states to ratify the Palermo Protocol 14 and bring their anti-trafficking laws into compliance with this international standard. The ASEAN Instrument should re-emphasize the importance of a “victim-centric” approach that considers the needs of the victim as paramount, and make clear the importance of dealing with the problem of human trafficking within the framework of migration management as well as criminal response. 18. The SEANF recognizes the trafficking of persons for forced labour and other purposes as a serious violation of the human rights of the migrant that effectively denies the original objective of the migrant, which is to seek a better life for themselves and their families. The SEANF urges the ACMW Drafting Committee to ensure the ASEAN Instrument includes a comprehensive section on principles against trafficking, and commitments to combat human trafficking in all its forms and for all end purposes. The SEANF further recommends that anti-trafficking interventions in the ASEAN Instrument should comply with the OHCHR Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking. 19. The SEANF applauds the ASEAN Declaration Against Trafficking in Persons Particularly Women and Children, adopted by the ASEAN leaders in Vientiane, Lao PDR, on November 29, 2004, which provides that all ASEAN member states will “undertake actions to respect and safeguard the dignity and human rights of genuine victims of trafficking in persons” and will “distinguish victims of 14 Protocol To Prevent, Suppress And Punish Trafficking In Persons, Especially Women And Children, Supplementing The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime 19