Includes statistics.

This book is a collection of work by migration scholars and researchers who are actively conducting fieldwork in Southeast Asia. It presents a wide variety of current research and approaches the field of international labor migration from a regional perspective, acknowledging that the migration process goes beyond local and national boundaries and is embedded in regional and global interconnections. The chapters capture the complexity and richness of the migration phenomenon and experience, which manifests itself in a multitude of ways in a region well known for its diversity. The collection highlights the continuities and discontinuities in the linkages that have been forged through the movement of people between sending and receiving societies. Such linkages are explained by distinguishing between migration that has been sustained by a colonial past and migration that has been precipitated by globalization in the last two decades. The diversity of issues in the region covered by this volume will encourage a rethink of some of the conventional views of migration scholarship and result in a more critical reflection of how we approach migration research.

Presents an overview of the trends, causes and consequences of international migration within and from the East and Southeast Asian countries at the end of the 20th century. Assesses the socio-economic implications and policy issues.

The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region has an international emigrant population of more than 21 million people who remitted US$112 billion to their home countries in 2013. The region also hosts more than 7 million migrant workers, mostly from other Asian countries. These migrant workers account for 20 percent or more of the labor force in economies such as Malaysia and Singapore and thus play a significant role in the economies of the labor-receiving countries. An aging population in many East Asian countries will create significant labor shortages, leading to greater demand for migrant workers. For these reasons, international labor mobility is emerging as an important development issue in East Asia, with important implications for reducing poverty and supporting sustainable economic development in the region. In this context, International Migration and Development in East Asia and the Pacific analyzes the impact of migration on development of the EAP region and examines how international migration should be managed in East Asia in a way that supports development goals while simultaneously protecting the rights of migrants. The study covers trends in international migration in East Asia and overarching regional issues such as the links between macroeconomic management and remittances and the role of demographic trends in migration; the economic impact of migration and remittances on labor-sending countries and labor-receiving countries; the migration industry; and the policies and institutions that govern migration. This report shows that in labor-sending countries remittances help reduce poverty significantly by increasing income for migrants’ families. At the country level, remittances have a significant role in helping finance trade deficits and in bolstering reserves, not only in the small Pacific Island economies but also in large economies such as Vietnam and the Philippines. For labor-receiving countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong SAR, China, migrant workers form a significant part of the workforce, especially in labor-intensive manufacturing, construction, plantation agriculture, fishing, and household services. Migrant workers thus help relieve labor shortages, boost output, and maintain competitiveness. The role of migrant workers will become more important in the future given the rapid population aging in many labor-receiving East Asian countries. Given these factors, the key question concerning international migration in East Asia and the Pacific is not whether it is desirable but how it should be managed in the future. International Migration and Development in East Asia and the Pacific discusses a range of policy options in both labor-sending and labor-receiving countries to address this question.

This open access IMISCOE Regional Reader explores the issues faced by migrant groups in Southeast Asia and the challenges of getting of their human rights recognized. It analyses the different responses, or lack thereof, of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to these highly complex situations which are shaped by contemporary debates around borders and concepts of states, migrants’ rights as well as access to citizenship and how these concepts and paradigms are intertwined with issues such as agency and resilience of migrants. Crucial attention is given to the region’s lesser known populations and issues such as the Vietnamese in Thailand, people of Indonesian descent (PIDs) in Southern Philippines, independent child migrants across the region, and the vulnerabilities of migrant workers facing the COVID-19 pandemic. With its unique regional focus, this book provides a valuable resource to those studying human rights and migration issues, policy makers and researchers and students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted about 1 billion migrants (both international and domestic) in a variety of ways, and this book demonstrates how COVID-19 has widened the gaps between citizens, non-migrant and migrant populations in terms of income, job retention, freedom of movement, vaccine etc.While there is an emerging literature studying the impacts of COVID-19 on migration, the situation in Southeast Asia has not received much scholarly attention. This book fills the literature gap by studying the experiences of migrants and citizens in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore and highlighting how the pandemic has exacerbated inequalities between and within the groups. These three countries are studied due to their high reliance of migrants in key economic sectors. Findings in this volume are derived from a qualitative approach, complemented by secondary data sources.This book is appropriate for undergraduate and postgraduate students of population studies, epidemiology, political science, public policy and administration, international relations, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and migration and refugee studies. Migration and labour scholars benefit from the nuanced comprehension about how a pandemic could cause a schism between migrants and the population at large. Policymakers may consider the proposed recommendations in the book to improve the migration situation.