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Webinair “In Peril at SEA: Migrant Workers in Southeast Asia’s Blue Economy”
March 11 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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.
Speaker and Moderator:
Benjamin Harkins is the ILO Technical Adviser for the Ship to Shore Rights South-East Asia programme, formerly in a similar function for the Tripartite Action to Enhance the Contribution of Labour Migration to Growth and Development in ASEAN (TRIANGLE II project). He holds a BA in Cultural Studies from the New College of California and a MA in International Development Studies from Chulalongkorn University.
Rosalia Sciortino is an associate professor at the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University; Visiting Professor at the Master in International Development Studies (MAIDS), Chulalongkorn University; and Director of SEA Junction (seajunction.org). She has served as IDRC Regional Director for Southeast and East Asia (2010–2014), Senior Adviser to AusAID in Indonesia (2009–2010), and Regional Director for Southeast Asia of the Rockefeller Foundation (2000–2007). Rosalia Sciortino Sumaryono also served as a program officer at the Indonesia and Philippines offices of the Ford Foundation (1993–2000). She received her doctoral degree cum laude from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and has published widely on development issues in Southeast Asia. In November 2017, she received a medal from the Vietnamese Association of Social Sciences for her contributing to social sciences in Vietnam (see further www.rosaliasciortino.com).
For more information, please email: info@seajunction.org or phone/wa: +66970024140.
Events at SEA Junction are free, donations are welcome to support SEA Junction activities.
Organizers
SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions, from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 408 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium), SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. For more information, see https://seajunction.org/ and join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/1693058870976440/ and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @seajunction.
Mahidol Migration Center was established in 2010 as a Joint Research Unit (MMC-JRU) at the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR), Mahidol University, one of Asia’s premier population research and training hubs, to produce and disseminate migration-related information more effectively. Its purposes are to gather and synthesize the large amount of migration data available; to collaborate with partners and organizations to form internal and international networks for theory, practice, and policy formulation; to act as a platform for advocacy and lasting change in migrant healthcare; and to assist in the prioritization of resources to improve both internal and international migrants’ physical and mental well-being. For more information see https://mahidolmigrationcenter.com
