E.g., 02/04/2023
E.g., 02/04/2023
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.

World map with small planes and major city names
Reports

Using Risk Analysis to Shape Border Management: A Review of Approaches during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although nearly all countries adopted travel measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, national approaches have varied considerably and often been controversial. In many cases, decisionmakers failed to clearly communicate the rationale for using certain measures. This report looks at how governments and international organizations approached travel-related risk analysis, and what it would take to do this more strategically in future public-health emergencies.

Migrant workers at a textile factory in Jordan
Policy Briefs

Reassessing Recruitment Costs in a Changing World of Labor Migration

Migrant workers can pay a range of costs when they are recruited and relocate for jobs abroad, accruing significant debt. While many countries, international organizations, and other stakeholders have sought to reduce or eliminate recruitment costs, the pandemic has exacerbated and added to these expenses. This policy brief explores how the costs migrant workers face have changed, and what these developments mean for efforts to promote fair and ethical recruitment.

People pulling vehicles from a flooded road in an Afghan village
Articles

Climate Change Compounds Longstanding Displacement in Afghanistan

Climate change is compounding the drivers of displacement and international migration in Afghanistan, which has one of world's largest populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs). This article examines the climate and environmental linkages to displacement and migration, as well as the policy approaches taken by the Taliban and predecessor governments, particularly as they relate to water resources management.

Recent Activity

Articles
January 7, 2008
The Proposed European Blue Card System: Arming for the Global War for Talent?
By Elizabeth Collett
Articles
December 3, 2007
South Korea Opens Its Arms
By Kirin Kalia
Articles
December 3, 2007
Testing Immigrants — Literally
By Kirin Kalia
cover christensenEducation
Policy Briefs
September 2007
Language Policies and Practices for Helping Immigrants and Second-Generation Students Succeed
By  Gayle Christensen and Petra Stanat
cover MigDevInsight
Policy Briefs
September 2007
Protecting Overseas Workers: Lessons and Cautions from the Philippines
By  Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Neil G. Ruiz
cover_leveraging_remittancesPB[1]
Policy Briefs
June 2007
Leveraging Remittances for Development
By  Dilip Ratha
cover remittancesIndia
Policy Briefs
May 2007
The Phenomenal Rise in Remittances to India: A Closer Look
By  Muzaffar Chishti
cover_circular_migrationPB[1]
Policy Briefs
April 2007
Circular Migration and Development: Trends, Policy Routes, and Ways Forward
By  Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland

Pages

Feature
October 1, 2002
Malaysia Wavers on Labor Crackdown
Tough new laws aimed at curbing influxes of undocumented immigrants have prompted hundreds of thousands of workers to exit Malaysia — but the solution has brought its own problems.
Feature
July 1, 2002
Economy Prompts Australia to Welcome More Migrants
Australia plans to increase its 2002-2003 immigration program to the highest annual intake since the end of the 1980s.
Feature
May 22, 2002
Japan's Resilient Demand for Foreign Workers

Despite Japan's decade-long economic downturn, recent patterns of immigration suggest that some sectors still have a persistent demand for foreign workers. Chikako Kashiwazaki, Associate Professor at Keio University, explains why.

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Recent Activity

Articles
January 7, 2008

North Korea: Understanding Migration to and from a Closed Country

Economic, social, and political conditions have pushed North Koreans to illegally leave their country and migrate to South Korea, China, Russia, and elsewhere. MPI's Hiroyuki Tanaka examines humanitarian and economic migration flows from North Korea, and the situation of North Koreans living abroad.

Articles
December 3, 2007

Testing Immigrants — Literally

Prove you can fit in here. That is the challenge many countries placed in stark terms this year by implementing citizenship tests or increasing language requirements. In the case of Australia, the government decided to do both.

Articles
December 3, 2007

South Korea Opens Its Arms

Sensitive to having too many outsiders, prosperous Asian countries generally have relied on temporary worker programs — with few rights for migrants — to fill gaps in their labor markets. With its historically diverse population, Singapore is the main exception as it sees migrants as a demographic necessity and courts highly skilled migrants.

Policy Briefs
September 2007

Language Policies and Practices for Helping Immigrants and Second-Generation Students Succeed

This policy brief analyzes the effectiveness of school language policies across 14 immigrant-receiving countries. It examines various methods countries have adopted to help immigrant students gain proficiency in the language of instruction, identifies contexts that seem to elicit positive outcomes, and provides recommendations.

Policy Briefs
September 2007

Protecting Overseas Workers: Lessons and Cautions from the Philippines

This report investigates how migrant-sending countries can protect their migrant workers abroad by examining the policies, functions, and challenges of the Philippine government’s membership-driven welfare fund, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Policy Briefs
June 2007

Leveraging Remittances for Development

This report identifies features of remittances that make them ideal leveraging agents for poverty reduction and migration management agendas, and proposes a four-part international research and policy agenda for maximizing the development impact of international remittances.

Policy Briefs
May 2007

The Phenomenal Rise in Remittances to India: A Closer Look

This report captures India’s exceptional growth in reported remittances over the 15-year period between 1990 and 2005. It explores the relative importance of these remittances in India’s economy, and then identifies factors responsible for this exponential gain.

Articles
April 1, 2007

Indonesia's Labor Looks Abroad

A classic labor-surplus nation, Indonesia sends thousands of low-skilled workers every year to countries in the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, particularly neighboring Malaysia. Graeme Hugo of the University of Adelaide provides an updated look at this and other migration trends in the world's fourth most populous country.

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