E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Asia and the Pacific

Asia and the Pacific

Asia has a disproportionate share of the world’s young, working-age population—which represents the most mobile cohort—with resulting major immigration flows to other regions, and increasing intraregional migration as demographic transitions occur at different levels within Asia. The research here focuses on how the labor-sending countries of the region, notably the Philippines and other Colombo Process countries, manage these migration flows and the recruitment process. It also examines other conditions affecting the region, including humanitarian protection challenges, climate migration, diaspora relations, and remittances.

Three migrant men wearing masks in Thailand
Reports

Mobility Shutdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Asia and the Pacific

Some of the strictest COVID-19 pandemic-era limits on human mobility occurred in the Asia Pacific region. Border closures started in East and Southeast Asia in early 2020 and quickly spread through the entire region, in some cases remaining in place for more than two years. This report examines the approaches countries took and reflects on the immense costs and benefits of using border measures to tackle public-health risks.

A woman in Nigeria smiles while using her mobile phone
Reports

Leaving No One Behind: Inclusive Fintech for Remittances

Remittances are a vital lifeline for migrants’ families around the world and an important source of revenue for many low- and middle-income countries, especially in times of crisis. As more people turn to digital financial technologies for these money transfers, this shift holds the potential to shake up the rigid remittance industry and boost development benefits. But it also brings new challenges, as this report explores.

Photo of returning Filipino migrant workers.
Articles

The Philippines’ Landmark Labor Export and Development Policy Enters the Next Generation

Fifty years after the birth of the Philippines' strategy to use emigration as a tool for development, the government is doubling down on labor migration. While deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) slumped during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the government and civil society pivoting to assist with return migration and reintegration for hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, emigration has since rebounded, as this article details.

Recent Activity

South Sudanese refugee girl
Articles
December 14, 2017
As Displacement Becomes Long-Term, Refugee Hosts Grapple with New Normal
By Brian Salant
AfghanRefugees ZsuzsannaGal UNHCR
Articles
December 12, 2017
Increased Focus on Forced Return of Migrants and Asylum Seekers Puts Many in Peril
By Kathleen Newland and Brian Salant
EU Migration Partnerships: A Work in Progress
Reports
December 2017
EU Migration Partnerships: A Work in Progress
By  Elizabeth Collett and Aliyyah Ahad
Coverthumb TCM2017 Afghanistan
Reports
November 2017
From Forced Migration to Forced Returns in Afghanistan: Policy and Program Implications
By  Nassim Majidi
AfghanChildren MMaguire UNHCR
Articles
November 16, 2017
Afghanistan: Displacement Challenges in a Country on the Move
By Matthew Willner-Reid
Cambodian worker in Thailand
Articles
October 11, 2017
Criminalizing Irregular Migrant Labor: Thailand’s Crackdown in Context
By Maryann Bylander and Georgia Reid
Bangladeshi migrant workers
Articles
October 5, 2017
Chasing the Dubai Dream in Italy: Bangladeshi Migration to Europe
By Nayma Qayum
Chinatown in New York City
Articles
September 29, 2017
Chinese Immigrants in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova

Pages

St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
Profile
May 18, 2017
Russia: A Migration System with Soviet Roots

The history of dynamic migration flows throughout the Soviet Union pre- and post-collapse has significantly shaped the current migration reality in Russia. Even as borders have shifted and policies changed, inflows and outflows still occur mostly within the former Soviet space. As this article explores, Russia has worked in recent decades to strengthen its migration management system and update its residence and citizenship policies.

JapanElderly HanselAndRegrettal Flickr
Profile
March 28, 2017
As Its Population Ages, Japan Quietly Turns to Immigration

One of the most rapidly aging societies in the world, Japan is looking to immigration to address increased labor shortages—albeit slowly and largely without public debate. This country profile offers a brief overview of Japan’s migration history and examines the current immigration system, in particular policies and programs to bring in foreign workers, particularly on a temporary basis.

LearningKorean TruongVanVi ILO
Profile
March 1, 2017
South Korea Carefully Tests the Waters on Immigration, With a Focus on Temporary Workers

Faced with labor shortages in key sectors of the economy, South Korea has moved carefully in recent decades toward accepting greater numbers of workers—albeit in temporary fashion. Its Employment Permit System, launched in 2003, earned international accolades for bringing order and legality to immigration in the country, although several challenges remain to be addressed as this Country Profile explores.

DroughtEthiopia UNICEFEthiopia Flickr
Feature
February 3, 2017
With Millions Displaced by Climate Change or Extreme Weather, Is There a Role for Labor Migration Pathways?

Climate-related displacement is not hypothetical: An average of 21.5 million people per year have been displaced since 2008 by natural disasters, and thousands more have fled slow-onset environmental hazards. While migration can serve as a safety valve to adapt to changing conditions, few orderly, legal channels exist for climate migrants (also known as environmental migrants), as this article explores.

Burmese ThierryFalise ILO
Feature
January 18, 2017
Labor Migration from Myanmar: Remittances, Reforms, and Challenges

Having emerged from a long era of military rule, Myanmar's leaders and many citizens are looking outward. In particular, with Burmese labor migration abroad on the rise, policymakers are examining ways in which to harness remittances as a vehicle for economic development, particularly in impoverished rural areas. This article explores Burmese labor migration flows, financial reforms, and challenges on migration and development.

Pages

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Recent Activity

Reports
June 2011

Rethinking Points Systems and Employer-Selected Immigration

Two competing models for selecting economic-stream immigrants are now prevalent in advanced industrialized economies: points-based and employer-led selection. Increasingly, however, hybrid selection systems are being created, implementing best practices from each selection process.
Reports
June 2011

Eight Policies to Boost the Economic Contribution of Employment-Based Immigration

Drawing on experiences from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Pacific region, this report presents eight strategies that represent best practices developed by immigrant-receiving countries to increase the economic contributions of immigration.
Articles
May 31, 2011

China: An Emerging Destination for Economic Migration

Ronald Skeldon of the University of Sussex maps out the past and present migration patterns of China — the source of tens of millions of migrants around the globe — and discusses the country's budding status as an immigrant-receiving nation.

Video
November 30, 2010

Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy

Over the past year, MPI has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to examine how diasporas contribute to – or detract from - development efforts in their countries of origin. MPI and USAID have published an edited volume of the research. Please join us for the release of the book where speakers will discuss new thinking on the role of diaspora engagement in U.S. foreign and development policy.
Books
November, 2010

Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy

This edited volume examines the development impact of diasporas in six critical areas: entrepreneurship, capital markets, "nostalgia" trade and "heritage" tourism, philanthropy, volunteerism, and advocacy.

Reports
November 2010

Voice After Exit: Diaspora Advocacy

This report provides an overview of diaspora advocacy by looking at five issues: who participates in diaspora advocacy, who or what are the “targets” in these efforts, what means are used to advance these causes, what are the issues on which they focus, and the effectiveness of the efforts.

Articles
October 27, 2010

For Love and Money: Second-generation Indian Americans 'Return' to India

Indian immigrants in the United States may not want their U.S.-born children to live and work in India, but some members of the second generation are 'returning' to their parents' homeland for economic and personal reasons, as Sonali Jain of Duke University explains.

Reports
October 2010

Mobilizing Diaspora Entrepreneurship for Development

This report examines the diaspora entrepreneurs who are often motivated to contribute to job creation and economic growth in their native lands, and offers some key findings and policy options.

Pages