Regional Inter-State Consultation Mechanisms on Migration ...

protection, payment of wages and adequate access to decent working and living
conditions for migrant workers.
Taxonomic placement
The AFML resembles FIBEMYD in its operation as a predominantly annual
conferencing event. Furthermore, AFML is not underpinned by regular ongoing
technical and policy consultations between the annual Forum events. (The number
of participants for a meeting has reached nearly 200, drawn from government, civil
society, academia and international organizations.) AFML departs from the usual
definition of an RCP in those key ways and has been included here as an example of
a particularly important example of an intraregional forum on migration, and one that
operates as a pillar – with ASEAN in this case. As it is limited to the ASEAN region,
the term 'IRF' is not appropriate.
3.5 The Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, with Other Asia
3.5.1 Ministerial <strong>Consultation</strong>s on Overseas Employment and
Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin and Destination
in Asia (‘Abu Dhabi Dialogue’), RCP
Background
The Ministerial <strong>Consultation</strong>s on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour
for Countries of Origin and Destination in Asia. Otherwise known as the ‘Abu Dhabi
Dialogue’ (ADD), the mechanism was established in 2008 and its agenda in many
ways complements and broadens that of the Colombo Process, although the two
processes are technically distinct and independent. As earlier noted, the Colombo
Process is composed of 11 Asian origin countries as its core membership. The Abu
Dhabi Dialogue is a voluntary, non-binding and informal <strong>State</strong>-led consultative process
engaging seven Asian countries of labour destination (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, the United Ara Emirates [UAE] and Yemen), and 11 countries of origin
(Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam). Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and
Singapore have participated as observers. While there is a strong overlap between the
countries of the Arabian Peninsula and the Cooperation Council for the Arab <strong>State</strong>s of
the Gulf, or, simply, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Yemen is on the Arabian
Peninsula and in ADD, but not in GCC. While all Colombo Process members are
also members of ADD, six of the ADD destination country members are observers
in the Colombo Process.
55