Seminar no. 1378 (Special)
11 March 2026 Time: 15:00-16:00 hrs.
Speaker: Benjamin Harkins
In February 2022, SEA Junction and the Mahidol Migration Centre – Joint Research Unit (MMC-JRU) in collaboration with the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University (IPSR) In-House Seminar launched a series of webinars titled “Wednesday SEA Mobilities”. Held on the Wednesday of every other month, the events discuss a vast arrays of Southeast Asia’s contemporary mobility issues by experts, academics, practitioners, NGO workers, and migrants.
The speaker for the second Wednesday SEA Mobilities episode for 2026 on 11 March 2026 at 3-4 pm is Benjamin Harkins, ILO Technical Adviser for the Ship to Shore Rights South-East Asia programme jointly implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the European Union. He will introduce a recent report on the living and working conditions of migrant workers in the Blue Economy across Southeast Asia.
For generations, the prosperity of Southeast Asia has been closely tied to its deep and productive relationship with the sea, with hundreds of millions depending on the region’s blue economy and fisheries and seafood processing remaining central to economic growth. In recent decades, rapid but uneven socio-economic development has led to growing reliance on migrant workers to fill labour shortages, as many nationals in wealthier economies turn away from work perceived as dangerous and low-paid, and thus, expanding opportunities while also heightening concerns about vulnerability to labour rights abuses. The findings reveal persistent and serious decent work deficits in the fishing and seafood processing sectors, including forced labour, debt bondage, wage theft, excessive working hours, unsafe conditions, and gender-based discrimination—particularly within distant water fleets operating far from effective oversight.
The discussion will be held in English and facilitated by SEA Junction’s director Rosalia Sciortino. The online event will be broadcast on Zoom and also on the FB pages of IPSR and of SEA Junction.
