ASIA PACIFIC COUNTRIES TO DISCUSS MIGRANT LABOUR ISSUES

PETALING JAYA (Malaysia), Sept 1 (Bernama) -- Organising migrant workers in Asia Pacific countries and forming a global network will be among the important issues to be discussed at an international workshop organised by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) beginning here on Wednesday.

The workshop, to be attended by more than 30 trade union leaders from 17
Asia Pacific countries, will also study the possibility of establishing migrant
labour centres in the region.

Countries participating in the two-day workshop, besides Malaysia, include
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Jordan,
Bahrain, Mongolia, Nepal, South Korea and Pakistan.

Local co-organiser Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), in a statement
Monday, said the workshop would also facilitate the exchange of information and
sharing of experience among participating countries on the issue.

Its vice president, A. Balasubramaniam, said the workshop was timely and
significant as the impact of migrant workers both for the sending and receiving
countries was substantial, socially and economically.

He said Malaysia would gain much from the workshop as it had a substantial
migrant population of more than 1.9 million legal and another 1.2 million
illegal workers from Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines,
Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
-- BERNAMA