Asia should address labor migration<\/p>\n
Kim Hak-Su, The Nation, Asia News Network\/Bangkok<\/p>\n
As international migration always involves at least two
\ncountries, the limited number and scope of bilateral agreements,
\nand complete lack of a regional framework for dealing with it,
\npoints to an obvious shortcoming on the part of the international
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
The reluctance of many governments in Asia and the Pacific to
\ncommit to international arrangements concerning migration may
\nstem partially from the view that labor migration is a temporary
\nphenomenon that will decrease in importance with structural
\nchanges in their economies. In fact, all indications are that
\nmigration within the region will continue to increase, reflecting
\ngrowing disparities in levels of economic development.<\/p>\n
Asian countries now regularly deploy over two million migrant
\nworkers per year, while an unknown number of workers migrate
\noutside of government programs. Economies in East and Southeast
\nAsia currently host more than four million migrant workers in a
\nregular status and several hundred thousand unauthorized migrants
\nand workers. Women constitute a significant share of the volume
\nof regional migration and the number of women exceeds the number
\nof men officially deployed as migrant workers by Indonesia, the
\nPhilippines and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
The recruitment and placement of migrant workers has become a
\nlarge industry in many countries and remittances from nationals
\noverseas earn billions of dollars in foreign exchange for several
\ncountries. The annual sum of remittances exceeds US$10 billion in
\nIndia, $6 billion in the Philippines and $1.5 billion in
\nBangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand. These totals are often
\ngreater than levels of official development assistance or foreign
\ndirect investment received by countries.<\/p>\n
International migration should not be viewed solely as an
\neconomic phenomenon, however. The large numbers of persons
\nmigrating or working without authorization usually have no
\nprovision for health care and, if concentrated in particular
\nareas, can impose a burden on local health facilities. Even when
\nmigration is authorized, it causes separation of family members
\nfor long periods. In some instances, children accompany migrants
\nor are born to them while abroad. Such children of migrants often
\nreceive inadequate health care and schooling. Those born in the
\ncountry of destination sometimes face obstacles to acquiring a
\nnationality, which is a basic right provided in the Convention on
\nthe Rights of the Child.<\/p>\n
Given the importance of international migration to every
\ncountry in the region, governments need to develop comprehensive
\nmigration policies to include refugee movements, legal migration,
\nirregular migration and trafficking. These policies should be
\nintegrated into broader strategies of rights-based economic and
\nsocial development.<\/p>\n
Countries in the region have been able to agree on approaches
\nto combating trafficking in persons. The South Asian Association
\nfor Regional Cooperation adopted a Convention on Preventing and
\nCombating the Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution
\nin 2002. Six governments signed a memorandum of understanding on
\nfighting trafficking in 2004 under the aegis of the Coordinated
\nMekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT).
\nThirty-eight countries participate in the Bali Process, initiated
\nin 2002 by the Bali Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling,
\nTrafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime.<\/p>\n
It is now time for countries in the region to cooperate with
\none another and with their development partners in the
\ninternational community, including the United Nations and other
\nintergovernmental bodies, to go beyond agreements on trafficking
\nin persons to cooperation on all forms of migration but
\nespecially labor migration. Such agreements should cover the
\nrights and obligations of employers and migrant workers. The most
\neffective way to prevent trafficking is to provide legal channels
\nfor migration and employment that meets national standards.<\/p>\n
In an effort to promote the regional dialogue on international
\nmigration issues, UNESCAP and other international organizations
\nare convening the Regional Seminar on the Social Implications of
\nInternational Migration, to be held in Bangkok from Aug. 24 to
\n26, 2005. It is our hope that the Regional Seminar will
\ncontribute to the process of building a sustainable and mutually
\nbeneficial migration regime in the region that will make
\nmigration a force for long-term growth and development.<\/p>\n
Kim Hak-Su is executive secretary of the Bangkok-based United
\nNations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.<\/p>",
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