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

Multimedia May 19, 2021 EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration: Switching Perspectives?	Multimedia April 8, 2021 A Year of Pandemic: The State of Global Human Mobility & What Is on the Horizon
Reports April 2021 COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2020 By Meghan Benton, Jeanne Batalova, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Timo Schmidt	Multimedia April 2, 2021 The Benefits of Climate Migration
Articles March 18, 2021 Stateless and Persecuted: What Next for the Rohingya? By Amal de Chickera	Articles March 10, 2021 Immigrants from Asia in the United States By Mary Hanna and Jeanne Batalova
Reports March 2021 A Bridge to Firmer Ground: Learning from International Experiences to Support Pathways to Solutions in the Syrian Refugee Context By Camille Le Coz, Samuel Davidoff-Gore, Timo Schmidt, Susan Fratzke, Andrea Tanco, Maria Belen Zanzuchi and Jessica Bolter	Multimedia February 19, 2021 Migrate or Adapt? How Pacific Islanders Respond to Climate Change

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Books June 2012 Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development: A Handbook for Policymakers and Practitioners in Home and Host Countries By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland	Policy Briefs May 2012 Labour Migration from Colombo Process Countries: Good Practices, Challenges and Ways Forward By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Christine Aghazarm
Books April 2012 Hoja de ruta para la participación de las diásporas en el desarrollo: Un manual para políticos y profesionales de los países de origen y de acogida By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland	Books April 2012 Comment associer les diasporas au développement: Manuel a l’usage des decideurs et praticiens dans les pays d’origine et d’accueil By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland
Reports September 2011 Climate Change and Migration Dynamics By Kathleen Newland	Reports July 2011 Running in Circles: Progress and Challenges in Regulating Recruitment of Filipino and Sri Lankan Labor Migrants to Jordan By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
Reports July 2011 Running in Circles: Progress and Challenges in Regulating Recruitment of Filipino and Sri Lankan Labor Migrants to Jordan (In Arabic) By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza	Reports June 2011 Eight Policies to Boost the Economic Contribution of Employment-Based Immigration By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption

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Feature

October 23, 2020

Climate Impacts as Drivers of Migration

Climate change is affecting human movement now, causing internal displacement and international migration, and will do so in the future. But the impact is often indirect, and rarely is the process as straightforward as one might think. This article provides an overview of research on how climatic hazards drive and affect migration, reviewing which types of people might migrate and under what conditions.

Spotlight

October 16, 2020

Indian Immigrants in the United States

There are 2.7 million Indian immigrants in the United States, making them the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans. This number has increased dramatically in recent years, growing 13-fold between 1980 and 2019. This article provides an overview of this population, which is more highly educated, more likely to work in management positions, and higher-earning than the U.S. born and overall immigrant population.

An Indian internal migrant walks with her children in Delhi

Feature

September 10, 2020

Gaps in India’s Treatment of Refugees and Vulnerable Internal Migrants Are Exposed by the Pandemic

India has no refugee law and has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, leaving many of its estimated 250,000 recognized refugees in a legal gray area. Meanwhile, more than 450 million internal migrants form the foundation of the country's economy, yet often have trouble accessing government benefits, identity cards, and other services. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought these shared vulnerabilities into stark relief.

Spotlight

July 15, 2020

Filipino Immigrants in the United States

Immigration from the Philippines to the United States has been taking place for more than a century, escalating towards the end of the 20th century. Filipinos now represent the fourth-largest U.S. immigrant group. Compared to all immigrants, Filipinos are more highly educated, are more likely to be naturalized U.S. citizens, have higher incomes and lower poverty rates, are less likely to be uninsured, and have greater English proficiency.

Feature

July 9, 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic Profoundly Affects Bangladeshi Workers Abroad with Consequences for Origin Communities

Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest migrant-origin countries, and money sent home by its workers abroad is crucial to an economy that has become one of the more vibrant ones in South Asia. Against this backdrop, the COVID-19 pandemic has injected turmoil into the economy as Bangladeshi migrants have lost their jobs, families are seeing reduced remittances, and would-be migrant workers have had to shelve their plans to work abroad.

Recent Activity

Articles

April 29, 2015

From Humanitarian to Economic: The Changing Face of Vietnamese Migration

The end of the Vietnam war, marked by the fall of Saigon in 1975, precipitated the mass Indochinese refugee crisis, which saw more than 2 million people flee the region, often on unseaworthy boats. Following the war, Vietnamese migration was divided between humanitarian flows to the West, and labor migrants to allied communist countries. More recently, Vietnam's rapid economic growth has prompted increased labor migration to Asia and a rise in migrant brides.

Reports

April 2015

Syrian Refugees in Turkey: The Long Road Ahead

More than 1.7 million Syrian refugees lived in Turkey as of mid-March 2015, making this the world's largest community of Syrians displaced by the conflict in their country. This report provides an overview of Turkey's changing migration landscape and the position of Syrian refugees in Turkey today, along with policy recommendations given the likelihood of long-term or permanent displacement for Syrians.

Audio

March 26, 2015

The Asia-Pacific and Women’s Labour Migration

Marking the release of the 12th MPI-IOM Issue in Brief, this event in Bangkok examined the emerging trends in women’s labor migration in the Asia-Pacific region, and the related opportunities and challenges. The audio does not include opening remarks and begins with the author's presentation.

Policy Briefs

March 2015

Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges

The number of women migrants in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region is on the rise. While migration can provide unique opportunities for female workers to improve their livelihoods and gain greater autonomy, it also exposes them to new types of vulnerability and discrimination. This brief looks at the trends and patterns in female labor migration in the Asia-Pacific region as well as key policy challenges relating to female migration.

Articles

March 4, 2015

Destination China: The Country Adjusts to its New Migration Reality

Faced with rising numbers of foreign entries (long- and short-term), China in 2012 adopted new legislation to manage its migration flows—the first reform to the country's immigration law since 1985. With an underlying tension in the legal framework between restricting immigrants deemed unwanted and welcoming those viewed as desirable, this feature examines the exit-entry law's key points.

Articles

February 20, 2015

Following the Money: Chinese Labor Migration to Zambia

Migration has begun to follow the flow of capital after years of Chinese investment in major infrastructure projects in Zambia. This feature article, based on original research including the coding of 25,000 Zambian entry permits, examines the emerging migration pattern from China to Zambia, as Chinese migration to the country has increased 60 percent since 2009.

Commentaries

January 2015

The Field of Migration Studies Loses a Giant: Graeme Hugo

In a personal tribute published in the Migration Information Source, MPI's online journal, MPI President Emeritus Demetrios G. Papademetriou reflects on the life and career of Graeme Hugo, a world-renowned scholar and Director of the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, who died in January 2015.

Audio

December 16, 2014

A ‘Freer’ Flow of Skilled Labour within ASEAN: Aspirations, Opportunities, and Challenges in 2015 and Beyond

This Bangkok launch of the MPI-IOM Issue in Brief "A ‘Freer’ Flow of Skilled Labour within ASEAN: Aspirations, Opportunities and Challenges in 2015 and Beyond" explored the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community and its vision of a freer flow of skilled labor, as well as other migration issues affecting the region.

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