Norms associated with the "ASEAN Way," namely non-interference, respect for sovereignty, informality, and consensus, primarily reflect processes of interaction. Yet these processes have rarely been examined from the perspective of ASEAN's attempts at norm diffusion. To date, greater attention has been placed on ASEAN as a norm recipient. This article asks how and to what extent ASEAN is a norm entrepreneur both within the region and beyond. It provides examples of norm diffusion by ASEAN by offering two diffusion mechanisms -enmeshed and innocuous -and analyzes the challenges associated with norm diffusion. These mechanisms demonstrate how ASEAN diffuses norms as reflected through its normative framework and internal and external pressures.

In addition to global and national labor migration policies, regional-level strategies can contribute to the protection of Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN's) low and unskilled migrant workers. However, there is a need for ASEAN and its partners to work with contextual specificities, including ASEAN's normative framework, conditions within its member-states, and civil society, while at the same time also complement global initiatives. ASEAN is well-placed to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers in the region, despite current shortcomings. However, this can only be done if ASEAN integrates itself within national and international institutions and standards, rather than be a separate level of governance squeezed in between the domestic and the global. In essence, ASEAN must move from being a disjointed to a complementary actor.

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