Disability Migration Network (DMN)
Towards disability-responsive migration
🌏✈ At the 18th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML), the Disability Migration Network (DMN) is calling for a migration system that truly includes migrant workers with disabilities and migrants with acquired disabilities.
From fair recruitment to reintegration, disability-responsiveness must be at the heart of safe migration and decent work. It’s not charity—it’s justice.
Read our full blog here 👇
By Ma. Vhiktoria “Chavek” Siva and Karla Henson On July 25–26, 2025, the Disability Migration Network (DMN) hosted its second Labor Migration 101: Capacity Building Workshop for Persons with Disabilities at Bayview Park Hotel in Ermita, Manila. The two-day event brought together a dynamic group of participants, persons with disabilities curious about working abroad, personsContinue reading “Towards Disability-Responsive Migration: DMN’s Second face-to-face Capacity Building Workshop for Persons with Disabilities”
By Ben Thatcher Migration has long been a defining feature of Filipino life. More than 2.2 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) live and work across the globe (Asis, 2017), forming part of a vast diaspora that contributes significantly to the country’s economy and identity. Yet behind these familiar narratives of sacrifice and economic opportunity liesContinue reading “Culture, Migration, and Disability: A Closer Look at the Filipino Experience”
By Karla Henson and Ma. Vhiktoria “Chavek” Siva In June 2025, the Disability Migration Network (DMN) participated in two regional events organized by the Department of Migrant Workers (Philippines) aimed at strengthening migrant workers’ rights and welfare in ASEAN. Both events were attended by representatives from ASEAN governments, the ASEAN Secretariat, international organizations such asContinue reading “DMN brings disability inclusion to ASEAN recruitment and reintegration talks”
By Ben Thatcher For too long, migration policies have ignored a crucial reality! That migrants with disabilities exist, and they matter. The global migration system is built on frameworks that rarely consider accessibility, inclusion, or the unique challenges faced by persons with disabilities throughout the migration journey. But change is on the horizon. The GlobalContinue reading “New possibilities for disability-responsive migration”
By Karla Henson Coffee Breaks and Chitchats In the early days of envisioning what would eventually become the Disability Migration Network (DMN), our coffee break conversations often sparked a critical question: Why have persons with disabilities been left out of the labour migration discourse? Back then, we—the co-founders of DMN—often discussed whether migration was everContinue reading “A New Dawn in Labour Migration”
By Ma. Vhiktoria “Chavek” Siva After a tussle with Manila traffic, a three and a half hour flight to Bangkok, a four hour layover at the Don Mueang International Airport, and two planes, the three-man and one-woman Disability Migration Network (DMN) research team finally landed in Chiang Mai. The numerous emails and zoom calls finallyContinue reading “Lanterns, Night Markets, Stories of Disabilities (in Thailand)”
By Karla Henson A Journey Through the Kingdom of Wonder The December night air in Cambodia greeted us with warmth as we stepped off the plane in Phnom Penh, the nation’s bustling capital. Our arrival marked the beginning of a mission that was both professional and deeply personal: to understand and document the stories ofContinue reading “Disability and Migration: Stories from Cambodia”
On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Disability Migration Network (DMN) proudly joins global voices to champion the leadership and contributions of persons with disabilities. The DMN, a coalition of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and migration-oriented organisations, stands as a driving entity amplifying the leadership and voices of persons with disabilitiesContinue reading “International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) 2024 Amplifying Disability Leadership in Labour Migration for an Inclusive Sustainable Future”
The ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) is an open platform for the review, discussion and exchange of good practices and ideas between governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, and civil society on key issues facing migrant workers in Southeast Asia. Each year the Forum develops recommendations to advance the implementation of the principles of theContinue reading “The DMN’s Statement on the Care Economy for the 17th ‘ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML)’ 2024”
Disability Migration Network (DMN)