On 11 March 2026, SEA Junction and the Mahidol Migration Center – Joint Research Unit (MMC-JRU) organised an online webinar titled “In Peril at SEA: Migrant Workers in Southeast Asia’s Blue Economy.” The event was part of the Wednesday SEA Mobilities webinar series, launched in February 2022 to discuss contemporary mobility issues in Southeast Asia with experts, academics, practitioners, NGO workers, and migrants.

The webinar featured Benjamin Harkins, 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. In his presentation, Harkins introduced a recent report examining the living and working conditions of migrant workers in Southeast Asia’s blue economy, particularly in the fishing and seafood processing sectors. The presentation highlighted how the region’s long-standing economic relationship with the sea has supported millions of livelihoods, while rapid but uneven socio-economic development has increased reliance on migrant workers to fill labour shortages in jobs considered dangerous and low-paid.

The report presented during the webinar documented persistent decent work deficits in the sector, including forced labour, debt bondage, wage theft, excessive working hours, unsafe working conditions, and gender-based discrimination. These concerns were noted to be particularly prevalent in distant-water fleets operating far from effective oversight. The session was moderated by Rosalia Sciortino, Director of SEA Junction and Associate Professor at the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR), Mahidol University. The event was held online via Zoom and livestreamed on the Facebook pages of IPSR and SEA Junction as part of the ongoing Wednesday SEA Mobilities series.

Learn more about the event on the SEA Junction website.