Page 134 - The Ethics of ASEAN

The Ethics of ASEAN

interest in the right to equal opportunity and freedom of
movement.
Human rights not only ensure autonomy and equity,
they protect all individuals from discrimination, intentional or
unintentional, based on gender, nationality, race, or beliefs.
Human rights need to be exercised, and go beyond the letter of
the law or a formal treaty. Dr Boontinand argues that the ASEAN
labour landscape needs both laws and ethics.
In ASEAN the on-the-ground reality can greatly differ
from what is spelled out in human rights standards and laws.
Decisions about right or wrong actions often boil down to
specific ethical guidelines. An example of this is the reality
faced by the Ministry of Labour in Thailand which lacks
resources to conduct checks on factories that might be using
child labour or forced labour. In such a situation, a top-down
approach towards human rights law enforcement cannot work
without a culture of human rights enabling ordinary people
to stand up for rights in the workplace. This is where human
rights protection and human development go hand in hand and
political democracy is reinforced by the right and willingness to
speak up in the workplace.
Dr Boontinand points out that in the past companies had
a legal obligation to defend policies of human rights but didn’t
have the obligation to report violations. Thanks to the 2011 UN
Guiding Principles, human rights due diligence is mandated to
both identify and act upon actual and potential human rights
risks for workers a company’s operations, supply chains and the
services it uses. More human development professionals are
4
being sought out by companies to report on human rights and
human development. This is crucial because discrimination and
human rights violations take place in the supply chain as well as
in the direct management of employees.

Professor Virgel Binghay: ethical frameworks
are needed for changes in ASEAN’s labour
market

Professor Virgel Binghay is Director of the Centre of Industry
Productivity and Professor at the School of Labour and
Industrial Relations at the University of Philippines. On top of his

4 UN Human Working Group on Business and Human Rights: Corporate human
rights due diligence – identifying and leveraging emerging practices https://
www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-business/corporate-human-
rights-due-diligence-identifying-and-leveraging-emerging-practices
retrieved 24 July 2023.

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