Migration project launched

ILO welcomes Australian funding for migration project

The Australian Foreign Minister announced the launch of the Australian-funded, Tripartite Action to Enhance the Contribution of Labour Migration to Growth and Development in ASEAN (TRIANGLE in ASEAN), a 10-year-project that aims to strengthen the link between migration and development.

Press release | BANGKOK | 18 December 2015
BANGKOK (ILO News) – New Australian support for a 10-year International Labour Organization (ILO) migration project has been welcomed by ILO specialists.

Earlier today (Friday 18 December) the Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop announced the launch of the Australian-funded, Tripartite Action to Enhance the Contribution of Labour Migration to Growth and Development in ASEAN (TRIANGLE in ASEAN), a 10-year-project that aims to strengthen the link between migration and development. The Australian government will contribute AUD20 million (US$14.2 million) to the project.

“We welcome the launch of the TRIANGLE in ASEAN project,” said Anna Olsen, Technical Officer, the Tripartite Action to Enhance the Contribution of Labour Migration to Growth and Development in ASEAN (TRIANGLE in ASEAN). “The ten-year commitment made by the Australian Government demonstrates their understanding that labour migration is a complex issue, and that when lives of migrant workers are at stake, long-term and sustainable solutions to labour migration management systems are required”.

The project will build on the successful collaboration between the ILO and the Australian Department Of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) between 2010-2015 on migrant workers, also under the acronym TRIANGLE.

TRIANGLE in ASEAN will work in six countries (Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam) and will also engage at an institutional level with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In shifting its emphasis towards harnessing the development potential of migration, TRIANGLE in ASEAN aims to shape labour migration opportunities to support inclusive and sustainable growth in the ASEAN Economic Community, ensure that migration is made fairer, and that the benefits of labour migration are equally realised by men and women migrant workers, employers and governments.

During phase one of the TRIANGLE project from 2010 to 2015, more than 60,000 migrant workers were individually assisted with counselling or support services and US$2 million in compensation was awarded to migrant workers for harm suffered. About 9 out of 10 regular migrants tracked by the TRIANGLE I project said they had chosen to use legal migration channels after using the project’s counselling services.

The launch of TRIANGLE in ASEAN comes on International Migrants Day (18 December). According to a new study, ILO Global Estimates on Migrant Workers, launched for Migrants Day, Migrant workers account for more than 150 million of the world’s approximately 232 million international migrants.

For further information please contact:

Sophy Fisher
Senior Communication and Public Information Officer
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok
Email: fisher@ilo.org
Tel.: +662 288 2482

Anna Olsen
Technical Officer, the Tripartite Action to Enhance the Contribution of Labour Migration to Growth and Development in ASEAN (TRIANGLE in ASEAN)
Email: Olsena@ilo.org
Tel.: +662 288 2233