International Migration and Development in East Asia and the Pacific

Migration and Remittances for Development in Asia

“…In Thailand, low-skilled migrants would increase wages of skilled natives (with high school or higher education), while depressing marginally (less than 0.5%) the wages of low-skilled natives (Lathapipat 2014). 8 The Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand have little evidence that migrants adversely affected employment (Ahsan et al 2014). Kim (2009) found that, in the Republic of Korea, an increase in the number of foreign workers in the manufacturing sector is associated with a decrease in job changes of native workers, as low-skilled migrants complement natives.…”

“…Countries with high migration rates appear to have slower economic growth than countries with lower migration rates. While the causality could run from slow domestic growth to high migration, it could also run in the reverse direction, for instance, due to the brain drain and the Dutch disease effects 10 of remittance inflows (Ahsan et al 2014). Other studies have illustrated that remittances may increase inequality: Rodriguez (1996), for example, found that the upper deciles of households in the Philippines receive greater shares of remittance.…”

“…Another challenge is to ensure the protection of labor rights in destination countries. A written employment contract is an effective instrument to protect migrant rights, especially in destination countries that have weak enforcement on minimum wages (Ahsan et al 2014). In view of this, sending governments have implemented regulations which require workers to obtain a labor contract or exit approval from the relevant government bodies prior to their departure.…”

Migration decision-making and migration industry in the Indonesia–Malaysia corridor

“…In this informal circuit, abuses take place such as withholding passports and parts of wages. Sometimes people are outright cheated, exploited, imprisoned without being paid or -after paying recruitment fees -are lured into non-existent jobs by outsourcing companies in collusion with government officials (Ahsan et al 2014). In the Malaysian electronics industry, Indonesian women are often indebted and it is only in Malaysia that they discover that after the deductions the salary they receive is less than the promised (Killias 2009;Das 2015).…”

“…The intent is to maintain a strict insider-outsider distinction: the stipulations render such outsiders simply ineligible for citizenship (Chin 2008). Third, recruitment agencies play an active role and since 2006 were labelled as 'outsourcing companies', responsible for recruitment and employment of migrant workers in Malaysia (Ahsan et al 2014;Brandström 2014;Garcés-Mascareňas 2012, 71-72). Finally, stricter control takes place both at and behind the porous borders.…”