Background

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Amid growing global scrutiny of forced labor, fisher-led advocacy for a regional response mechanism is needed more than ever. Since 2022, ASEAN has adopted the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Placement of Migrant Fishers, and the accompanying Guidelines. However, regional and national progress to safeguard and protect the rights of migrant fishers, from placement to repatriation, has been uneven. Cases such as attempts to roll back the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C-188) ratification in Thailand and the lack of a strong multilateral initiative to protect migrant fishers show the limits of state-driven changes. 

 

Despite this, migrant fishers' advocacy has proved to be resilient and has achieved relevant progress. This is demonstrated through the recent commitment of the President of Indonesia to ratify C-188 and the Indonesian Constitutional Court’s decision to reaffirm migrant fishers' rights and protections, two important milestones driven by sustained union and grassroots mobilization.

 

As migrant fishers continue to organize across ASEAN, the global seafood supply chain, from deck to export buyer, must also respond. Fisher-led advocacy is also influencing labor rights standards and business accountability. The EU can reinforce these efforts through regulation, due diligence, and trade policy. 

 

This session will explore three key areas: 1) How ASEAN has demonstrated, or could strengthen, its leadership in rights-based migrant fishers’ protection; 2) assess how ASEAN facilitates and enables fishers’ movement to be constructively engaged; and 3) how to embed a migrant fishers-centered participation in the next step of implementing the ASEAN Declaration and its guidelines. 

 

This session reflects directly on the 2025 Forum’s theme, “Anchoring Progress and Strengthening Regional Leadership on Human Rights through Crisis”, by spotlighting their advocacy leadership in Southeast Asia and beyond. It underscores the need for ASEAN to ensure that those most affected are meaningfully engaged in shaping and monitoring the implementation of the Declaration and its Guidelines. It also explores how fisher-led advocacy is driving both regional and international momentum for stronger protections through EU due diligence.

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Key Objectives

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• Take stock of regional and national progress and barriers to protection mechanisms for migrant fishers since the adoption of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Placement of Migrant Fishers and its Guidelines.

• Facilitate dialogue among migrant fishers' organizations, civil society organizations, and ASEAN institutions to work toward a regional migrant fishers protection mechanism. 

• Define the next steps to establish a regional working group to follow up on the implementation of the ASEAN instruments and how those link with the efforts in addressing IUU fishing and mainstreaming the rights-based approach in SEA.

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Guiding Questions

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• How has ASEAN demonstrated leadership in protecting migrant fishers’ rights, and what further steps are needed to strengthen this role?

• In what ways can ASEAN better facilitate and enable meaningful participation of migrant fishers and their organizations in shaping policies and protections?

• How can migrant fisher-centered participation be embedded in the implementation and monitoring of the ASEAN Declaration and its Guidelines, alongside broader regional and global accountability efforts?

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Format

• Panel session that opens with a video explainer to bridge the audience into the issue and ends with live commentary from the audience

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Session partners