The Guideline was adopted by the 26th ALMM on 28 October 2020 and noted by the 37th ASEAN Summit on 18 November 2020.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) represents a regional labour market with millions of migrant workers moving within the region and beyond. The bulk of the workers on the move are low-skilled workers migrating as temporary workers on short duration contracts. Thus, return migration to countries of origin in any given year can be substantial. In the absence of a comprehensive framework of support services, return migrant workers may experience a variety of challenges affecting their capacity to reintegrate with their home communities, to cope with psychosocial challenges, to find sustainable livelihood opportunities, or to reintegrate into the labour market. The lack of adequate reintegration policies and options constitutes a loss to migrant workers, their communities and society as a whole.

The Guideline aimed to elaborate a set of guiding principles for ASEAN Member States on policies, institutional mechanisms, programmes and services required for ensuring effective and sustainable return and reintegration of migrant workers in line with international standards. Act as a guide to AMS and all concerned stakeholders for elaboration of comprehensive sustainable reintegration policies, strategies and action frameworks at the national, bilateral and regional levels, strengthen partnerships among AMS in return and reintegration policies and strategies and proactively encourage governments, employers’ organisations, workers’ organisations, and civil society to incorporate these guidelines in return and reintegration efforts. The translation of the Guidelines into five national of AMS namely Khmer, Bahasa, Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese languages is ongoing. The Guideline is available at ASEAN Website

The Rockefeller Foundation together with the Australian Government supported the partnership between The Asia Foundation and The ASEAN Secretariat to conduct the rapid assessment on the impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods across ASEAN. The report provided inputs to policymakers in shaping national and regional responses on social welfare, labor, and education and training sectors for sustainable and inclusive recovery of the region. Understanding the impacts of the pandemic, sharing of measures and programs among countries, and leveraging regional mechanisms are critical for the region to mitigate the socio-economic impacts and foster recovery and resilience. The Rapid Assessment is accessible in ASEAN Website

The ASEAN Guideline was adopted by the 26th ALMM in November 2020. The Guideline elaborates on relevant international standards and frameworks on gender equality and decent work, shares promising practices from within and outside the region, as well as provides checklists on employment promotion, decent working conditions, social protection and international labour migration. These tools are envisioned to enable greater promotion of gender mainstreaming into labour and employment policies in ASEAN.

The Study was led by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) of Viet Nam with the support of ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF) and planned in the ASEAN Labour Ministers Work Plan 2016-2020.The guideline is accessible in the ASEAN Website

Led by the ASEAN Secretariat with the support of the Australian Government through the ACTIP Implementation Project which is being implemented by The Asia Foundation, the 1st edition of the Outlook provides a situational analysis of the return home of migrant workers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic and social costs of return and reintegration. It also examines the challenges and barriers in ensuring effective return of migrant workers. The Outlook highlights a forward-looking approach to inter-acting challenges, flexible and contextually pertinent solutions, and accountable policy implementation that should guide the way AMS innovate their current return and reintegration procedures. The Outlook will support the realization and implementation of the ASEAN Guidelines on Effective Return and Reintegration of Migrant Workers which were adopted by the 26th ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting on 28 October 2020. Among others, the Guidelines elaborated a set of principles for designing policies, institutional mechanisms, and programmes and services on sustainable return and reintegration of migrant workers that are in line with international and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards, and ASEAN Consensus principles. The ASEAN Migration Outlook was developed and endorsed by the ASEAN Committee on the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW) in June 2022. The Outlook is accessible in the ASEAN Website

The study was an initiative led by Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) of Viet Nam under the Action Plan 2018-2025 of the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Safe and Fair Project and the ASEAN Secretariat. The Study examined the challenges of labour migration challenges for women migrant workers in the region and reviewed their respective legislations through gender analysis of existing national labour migration provisions. The report is accessible in the ASEAN website

Led by ASEAN Secretariat with the support of (Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument) E-READI, this publication is the first comprehensive analysis of digital labour platforms and platform workers in AMS. The Outlook provided reviews, recent trends, policy developments and prospects of the changing world of work in the region. The Outlook identified online labour platforms as a potential alternative to informal employment considering countries’ ongoing digital transformation, and it recognised that significant steps under these structures need to be taken to improve worker welfare.

Analysing good practices from the EU and identifying emerging business models that have the potential to foster decent work in ASEAN, it served as a tool for sharing best practices at the regional and international levels, enhancing collaboration in information management, strengthening existing connections, and forging new pathways to ensure the promotion and protection of platform workers. The Outlook is accessible in the ASEAN website

On 4 July 2023, the Public Campaign on Safe and Fair Migration in the ASEAN region launched audio-visual presentations (AVPs), supported by the EU through the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI) and the Safe and Fair Programme (SAF).

These AVPs aim to equip prospective and current migrant workers with reliable and comprehensive information to help them better prepare for migration and safeguard against exploitation. For better outreach, those materials are available in English, Khmer, Bahasa Indonesia, Laotian, Burmese, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese .

This study was jointly commissioned by the ASEAN Secretariat, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES). The study is an activity under the Work Plan 2016-2020 of the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW). It was carried out under the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) funded UN Women project on ‘Preventing the Exploitation of Women Migrant Workers in ASEAN’. The study aims to better understand the state of women migrant workers under ASEAN economic integration with an inclusive and development for all’ vision.The study was managed by the Regional Migration Programme at the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP). The study is accessible in the ASEAN Website here