The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) was adopted six years ago, but the condition of migration and migrant labour has seen little improvement. Speaking at the Second Asia Pacific Regional Review of the Implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), held in the capital of Thailand from 4 to 6 February, Jillian Roque of PSI's Philippine affiliate PSLINK took to the floor to remind the assembly that "it has been more than six years since the adoption of the GCM and yet our migrants continue to be discriminated against, trafficked and exploited".

Read her full statement here:

"The Asia Pacific region is facing multiple crises, from economic, to climate, to care crisis and conflicts. And these crises are driving migration within our region, and from our region to other regions. It has been more than six years since the adoption of the GCM and yet our migrants continue to be discriminated against, trafficked and exploited. Migrant care workers, in particular, such as domestic workers, caregivers, nurses, teachers – majority of whom are women – are vulnerable to abuse and violence but often excluded from labor protections. In many countries, migrant workers are denied their fundamental right to freedom of association. And without the right to organise, migrant workers experience more vulnerability and oppression, without the power to improve their working and living conditions.

As public sector labor unions committed to fighting for workers’ rights of everyone – regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, migration status – our organization, Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), an affiliate of Public Services International (PSI), calls on governments to intensify efforts in aligning national policies, programs and practices with GCM objectives and ratifying and implementing international human rights and labor conventions. Governments should ensure fair and ethical recruitment, implement transparent, rights-based and gender-responsive Bilateral and Multilateral Labor Migration Agreements with the meaningful participation of unions, and ensure that no recruitment fees and other related costs should be charged to migrant workers.

We call on governments to address structural drivers including the lack of decent work and growing economic, social and gender inequalities as a consequence of neoliberal and patriarchal systems that exploit labor and the planet for profit, worsen marginalisation of migrant workers, women, indigenous people, informal workers, youth and persons with disabilities, and force people to migrate out of necessity, not out of choice.

We call on governments to stop privatisation of public services, including recruitment and border control, and to reverse state disengagement in migration and refugee services. Governments should ensure access of migrants to public services and guarantee firewall protections for undocumented migrants.

Now more than ever, we need governments to do their duty and allocate adequate resources to address structural drivers of migration, develop their own national and subnational economies, create decent jobs, ensure just transition, enforce labor standards, provide social protection and quality public services -- including education, health and care – and ensure open, participatory and inclusive governance.

Thank you very much."

The statement was delivered by Jillian Roque of PSLINK during the plenary session on 4 February, 2025