Question re ASEAN freedom of movement plans

[jvt22222]

Lots of us have heard that some time in 2015 (which month???), the 10 ASEAN countries (Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore) will implement a new procedure wherein citizens of these countries will be permitted to travel freely (I think -- passport, but no visa necessary) within member countries and will be able to be employed therein with no work permit necessary.

I think this will have considerable affect on Thailand based on relatively high salaries and standard of living, very low unemployment, stability (at least for the time being), low English skills compared to some of the other countries and surely many other considerations.

I would like to know more of the official details of this new venture into a common ASEAN тАУ approaching EU levels. I can see many sectors of the economy flooded with folks from our neighboring countries тАУ hospitality industry, office workers and sales clerks, construction industry, restaurants, and heavens-to-besty even internationalizing the go-go bar sector тАУ legally. Do any posters here know of any websites (possibly articles in regionally-focused news magazines) which give more details and observations about this coming change.

Many thanks.

[rifraf]

I remember reading a series of very interesting and informative articles in the Bangkok Post in 2012 on ASEAN that covered all aspects of it. You may want to conduct a search on their website.

As to labour movement, I asked our in-house HR Director what information she had and these were the job markets she said that will initially be opened:
medicine, dentistry, nursing, engineering, architecture and accounting will be the first areas of the labour market to be freed up in 2015. The other job markets purportedly will remain closed until data from testing these ones have been gathered and analysed. The emphasis will obviously be on 'white-collar' or professional skilled labour where member countries have identified shortages in their economies.

[christianpfc]

Look at Europe. There has been some migration that is not beneficial to the host countries (e.g. entire Gypsy families now living on social benefits in Germany, and in addition scamming/steeling from/robbing in their host country).

In Thailand it might be a bit different as there are no social benefits for newcomers, not even for Thais. This way, they don't attract the riff-raff. But educated, English-speaking ASEAN members are a thread to the Thai workforce as well.

[Brad the Impala]

Headline stories, but recent research in the UK shows that a higher proportion of immigrants are in employment, and paying taxes, than UK nationals. It has also been demonstrated that a lower proportion of immigrants are claiming social benefits than the national average.

[lukylok]

. But educated, English-speaking ASEAN members are a thread to the Thai workforce as well.

Christian, you're slipping, it's a threat not a thread !

Sorry, I couldn't resist ! :happy7:

[jvt22222]

Although written from a Cambodian perspective, I did find this via GOOGLE search:
++++++++++++++++++++

Fact Sheet: Fundamental Freedoms Series: Free Movement of People in ASEAN Fundamental Freedom: Free Movement of People
Snapshot: The Association of South-┬нтАРEast Asian Nations (тАЬASEANтАЭ) intends to establish an тАЬASEAN CommunityтАЭ by 2015, including the ASEAN Economic Community (the тАЬAECтАЭ) that will aim to deepen and accelerate regional economic integration in priority sectors. One of the primary concerns as regards establishing a single market is the implications that it will have upon the free movement of people and labor within ASEAN. The AEC envisages the тАЬfree flow of skilled laborтАЭ and provides for its regulation; however, free movement of тАЬunskilled laborтАЭ is not protected. Cambodia should use its position as ASEAN chair to advocate for the same standard of harmonization and protection for unskilled labor as for skilled labor and for the establishment of a human rights mechanism.

Introduction
This fact sheet highlights some key concerns as regards the proposed free movement of people and labor within ASEAN as of 2015, including the discrepancy between the treatment of unskilled (versus skilled) workers, and offers some recommendations. This fact sheet is written by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (тАЬCCHRтАЭ), a leading, non-┬нтАРaligned, independent non-┬нтАРgovernmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights тАУ primarily civil and political rights тАУ throughout the Kingdom of Cambodia (тАЬCambodiaтАЭ).

Free movement of people
In accordance with Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Cambodia ratified in 1992 and incorporated into domestic law by virtue of Article 31 of the Cambodian Constitution, all people have a fundamental and universal right to freedom of movement, which is stipulated to include the right to move around within oneтАЩs own country, and to leave and re-┬нтАРenter oneтАЩs own country. Some advocates of immigrantsтАЩ rights also extend this right to include the right to move between other countries. However, standard legal or political restrictions often apply тАУ in line with internationally-┬нтАР accepted criteria тАУ such as having to show passports and ID cards, and national and regional official minimum wage tariff barriers, which can serve as a barrier to entry of labor markets.

What is the AEC?
The AEC is the result of тАЬVision 2020тАЭ тАУ an ASEAN initiative to deepen economic integration, make ASEAN more dynamic and competitive, and accelerate regional integration in priority sectors. The AEC will be established as an ASEAN single market, and will comprise five fundamental elements, namely the free flow of: (i) goods; (ii) services; (iii) investment; (iv) capital; and (v) skilled labor. The intention is to launch the single market in 2015. The AEC is part of a wider strategy and is intended to complement both the ASEAN Political Security Community and the ASEAN Socio-┬нтАРCultural Community. While the AEC may share some similarities with the established European model тАУ the European Union or тАЬEUтАЭ тАУ there is a clear disctinction between the two: unlike the EU, ASEAN only provides for the free movement of skilled labor/workers as opposed to unskilled labor/workers.

ASEAN тАУ 2015
According to the AEC blueprint, the free flow of skilled labor aims to facilitate the movement of natural persons engaged in trade in goods, services and investments. Furthermore, ASEAN is working to facilitate the issuance of visas and employment passes for ASEAN professionals and

skilled laborers engaged in cross-┬нтАРborder trade and investment-┬нтАРrelated activities. ASEAN hopes to harmonize and standardize such movement by: (i) enhancing co-┬нтАРoperation between ASEAN University Network members to increase mobility for both students and staff; (ii) developing core competencies, qualifications and skills required in priority services sectors; and (iii) strengthening the research capabilities of each ASEAN member country in terms of promoting skills and job placements and developing labor market information networks among ASEAN member countries. Many stand to benefit from these new regulations. However, unskilled laborers are left exposed.

Unskilled Laborers
More than almost any other country in ASEAN, Cambodia is familiar with the plight of unskilled migrant workers and should therefore be concerned by their lack of protection. While migrant workers in theory have the right to seek work wherever they wish тАУ in accordance with the right to freedom of movement тАУ the conditions faced by these workers in reality are often far from ideal, precisely because they are unprotected by existing ASEAN regulations. For example, tens of thousands of Cambodian women and girls who migrate to Malaysia enjoy minimal protection against exploitative working conditions and other serious human rights abuses. Stronger and more robust regulations to monitor recruitment agencies than the recent Sub-┬нтАРDecree on the Management of the Sending of Cambodian Workers Abroad through Private Recruitment Agencies (Sub-┬нтАРDecree 190) are evidently needed in Cambodia; however, more relevantly, so is an effective human rights or complaints mechanism accessible to people in all ASEAN countries. Only with such a mechanism in place can the current problems suffered by migrant workers be solved and their rights be protected. ASEANтАЩs Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers creates positive obligations for receiving and sending states, but clearly lacks effective enforcement as yet.

Conclusion/Recommendations
The liberalization of movement within ASEAN is certainly a commendable objective. However, without the necessary safeguards in place for unskilled labor, migrant workers remain vulnerable and are unlikely to benefit from ASEAN's goal of integration. Cambodia in particular stands to fall behind other countries, both economically and socially. The Royal Government of Cambodia should use its leverage as the new chair of ASEAN to advocate both for the inclusion of unskilled labor in the AEC blueprint and the creation of an institutional ASEAN human rights mechanism to protect unskilled migrant workers across ASEAN, thereby protecting and promoting the universal right to freedom of movement. However, it is feared that Cambodia (as well as Burma and Laos) will struggle to match other ASEAN countriesтАЩ development, with Prime Minister Hun Sen stating: тАЬthe reduction of development gaps among ASEAN member states is the prerequisite condition in order to ensure competitiveness and to achieve regional integrationтАЭ. Cambodia should therefore also work to ensure that the AEC reduces the disparity of wealth between member states, in time for the opening of internal ASEAN borders in 2015. Otherwise, countries such as Cambodia will experience a drain of labor, both skilled and unskilled, as people exploit the new integration to emigrate to countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to seek a better wage. Cambodia must act now.

[goji]

Look at Europe. There has been some migration that is not beneficial to the host countries (e.g. entire Gypsy families now living on social benefits in Germany, and in addition scamming/steeling from/robbing in their host country).

Letting Romania in was a mistake, although the EU does have itself to blame by paying the damn benefits in the first place. Taxing the productive and subsidizing the spongers is a good way to screw up the economy.

[Sooty]

Judging from my experience of recent travels in SE Asia there's a pretty free movement of money boys from Thailand, Vietnam and especially Indonesia to Singapore, from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Burma to Thailand etc. It's capitalism isn't it? Labour will move to where the wages are high so no-one's going to move to Cambodia from Thailand or Singapore for example. The labourers making changes to my office complex here in the UK are from Poland; I don't believe there are too many English people working in Poland however.