A Job Across the Border, Protection Left Behind: ILO Targets ASEAN’s Migrant Labour Gaps

The ILO's new $20 million ASEAN labour migration programme aims to address a persistent imbalance: millions of workers move across borders to sustain regional economies, but recruitment safeguards, skills recognition and social protections often fail to follow them. Backed by Australia and Switzerland, the five-year initiative now faces a more demanding test, turning regional commitments into practical worker protections while confronting exploitation risks linked to trafficking and scam centre operations.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is expanding its efforts to protect migrant workers across Southeast Asia through a five-year, approximately US$20 million programme backed by Australia and Switzerland. The initiative places recruitment abuses, skills recognition, social protection and emerging trafficking risks at the centre of an ASEAN labour migration agenda increasingly concerned with what happens to workers before, during and after employment abroad.

Launched on October 14, 2026, during the 19th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour in Manila, TRIANGLE Partnerships for Fair and Effective Labour Migration in ASEAN will operate until 2031. Its scope extends beyond facilitating labour mobility to addressing the institutional gaps that can leave migrants exposed to exploitation despite their importance to regional economies.

The programme enters a labour market shaped by substantial cross-border movement. Around 24 million international migrants originate from ASEAN countries, while the region hosts approximately 11 million migrants, including seven million who have moved within ASEAN. Those figures, presented by the ILO, underline the challenge of protecting workers whose employment journeys extend across different national systems.

ASEAN's labour integration has a protection problem

Labour migration connects economies across Southeast Asia, but the protections available to workers do not necessarily travel with them. Recruitment arrangements, employment safeguards, qualifications recognition and social benefits involve different institutions, creating challenges that cannot be addressed through regional commitments alone.

High recruitment costs remain a major concern. Workers can encounter financial pressures before reaching their destinations, while hazardous workplaces and inadequate labour protections create further vulnerabilities during employment. Barriers to recognizing qualifications also restrict opportunities for migrants to use the skills they already possess.

TRIANGLE Partnerships approaches these problems through five interconnected priorities: fair recruitment and regular migration pathways, skills mobility and development, social protection and benefit portability, labour protection and decent work, and return and reintegration. Together, they cover the migration journey rather than concentrating exclusively on border crossings or destination-country employment.

Skills recognition receives greater emphasis under the expanded programme. Its inclusion reflects an effort to connect labour migration governance with workers' employment prospects, acknowledging that access to jobs and the ability to obtain recognition for existing capabilities are separate challenges.

Social protection introduces another difficult dimension. Migrants may move between jurisdictions while their benefits and employment-related safeguards remain tied to particular national arrangements. Making protections more accessible across borders requires coordination beyond the institutions responsible for recruitment or workplace conditions.

The programme also acknowledges exploitation linked to forced criminality in scam centre operations. By identifying these risks alongside recruitment abuses and trafficking, the ILO is widening its protection agenda to encompass vulnerabilities that extend beyond conventional labour disputes.

From ASEAN commitments to services workers can actually access

The programme's practical ambitions depend on converting regional cooperation into national action. Country-level activities are planned in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Timor-Leste, while broader cooperation will involve ASEAN institutions and regional stakeholders.

Governments will participate alongside employers' organizations, trade unions, civil society, migrant worker organizations and private sector actors. Such involvement reflects the range of institutions connected to recruitment, employment, skills development and worker assistance, although their specific implementation responsibilities have not yet been detailed.

Migrant Worker Resource Centres will form an important part of service delivery. Offering information, counselling, legal assistance, training and referrals, these centres provide a channel through which broader policy commitments can reach individuals navigating employment and migration-related difficulties.

Kaori Nakamura-Osaka, ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, said the initiative would connect ASEAN commitments with national action and local services, helping migrants access decent work, develop their skills and obtain support throughout their migration journeys.

Yet the programme's breadth raises questions about implementation. Addressing recruitment practices requires different institutional responses from improving skills recognition or coordinating social benefits. Delivering progress across all five priority areas will depend on how responsibilities, funding and activities are organized.

A 15-year partnership confronts a broader migration agenda

TRIANGLE Partnerships builds on more than 15 years of Australian support for fair and safe labour migration in ASEAN. The new phase, implemented by the ILO and financed through Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Switzerland's Agency for Development and Cooperation, extends that cooperation into additional countries and policy areas.

Australia has connected the initiative with wider regional economic cooperation. Ambassador Tiffany McDonald said effective labour migration could support inclusive growth, strengthen regional relationships and create opportunities for workers, employers and communities, while acknowledging evolving challenges associated with scam centre operations.

The distinction between economic opportunity and worker protection remains fundamental to the initiative. Labour mobility can connect employers with workers, but improved recruitment standards, safer employment conditions and accessible social benefits require their own arrangements and implementation efforts.

Return and reintegration also receive explicit attention, recognizing that workers' needs may continue after overseas employment ends. Including this final stage makes the programme more comprehensive, although specific reintegration activities and expected outcomes have not been announced.

For the 2026–2031 period, the decisive indicators will be national implementation plans, functioning support services, advances in skills recognition and practical improvements in recruitment and protection arrangements.