Philippines spotlights migrant workers and seafarers, urges protection from trafficking and exploitation

Maria Teresa Lazaro, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, urged the General Assembly to "put a face to the tireless migrant workers and seafarers who keep the global community afloat," calling for steadfast protection from trafficking and exploitation along migration routes.

She said "millions of migrant workers leave their homes to search for a better life" and emphasized that seafarers form an "indispensable lifeline of global commerce," recalling a recent incident in Haruz that "claimed the lives of Filipino seafarers." Lazaro stressed that seafarers and migrants "deserve steadfast protection from trafficking and exploitation" and urged full human-rights protections regardless of status.

Her remarks tied migration and labor protections to broader themes of human rights and development and called on states to ensure protections across origin, transit and destination countries. No specific treaty action or operational mechanism was proposed in the address.