Labour migration in Asia and the Pacific

The ILO is a specialized United Nations agency with a constitutional mandate to protect migrant workers, and it does so as part of its overarching goal of advancing social justice and promoting decent work.

Background and frameworks

The governance of labour migration is of core importance to the ILO and its constituents (i.e. governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations). The preamble to the ILO constitution highlights the need to protect workers employed in countries other than their own. Labour migration has the potential to deliver multiple benefits but also poses some risks and negative impacts. For countries of destination, it contributes to economic growth through the provision of labour, skills and ideas. For countries of origin, the movement of women and men across borders reduces underemployment pressures and increases remittances. Migrant workers have the opportunity to earn higher incomes and develop new skills, and thus greater independence and agency. However, the envisioned benefits are not equitably distributed. At the International Labour Conference in June 2019, the ILO adopted a Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, which included a call for “deepening and scaling up its work on international labour migration in response to constituents’ needs and taking a leadership role in decent work in labour migration”.  

The Singapore Statement adopted by ILO constituents from the Arab States and Asia-Pacific at the 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting of the ILO in December 2022, calls for enhancing labour migration policies. Priorities for national action include: strengthening governance frameworks and respect for freedom of association to protect the rights of migrant workers, including improved accommodation, protection of wages and extension of social protection and, where appropriate, through enhanced bilateral labour migration agreements.

The importance of decent work and well-managed migration is recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 8 calls for promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, as well as full and decent work for all. Target 8.8 aims to protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environment for all workers, including migrant workers and in particular women migrants. Target 8.7 is to take immediate and effective steps to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking. SDG 10 calls for reducing inequalities within and among countries. Target 10.7 aims to facilitate the orderly, safe and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies. Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality. Target 5.1 is to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls, and Target 5.2 to eliminate all forms violence against women and girls.

In September 2016, the General Assembly convened a high-level plenary on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, and adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. The New York Declaration indicated that States would begin a process of intergovernmental negotiations leading to the adoption of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). The Compact was formally endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly on 19 December 2018. The GCM has 23 objectives, including Objective 6 which is to facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions for decent work.

Trends and statistics

Much of the international migration occurring today is propelled by the search of decent work. The ILO estimated in 2017 that there are 164 million migrant workers worldwide, which accounted for 70 per cent of all migrants of working age.  The centrality of work to migration flows, particularly in the context of Asia-Pacific, is clear. There are 10 million international migrants in the ASEAN of whom almost half were women. The Arab States have the highest proportion of migrant workers to all workers (40.8 per cent), and host 13.9 per cent of migrant workers worldwide, most of them from South-East and South Asia. There are other key migration corridors in the region, including to Korea and Japan. Migrant workers from the Pacific Island Countries find jobs in seasonal worker programmes in Australia and New Zealand.   

Labour migration in the region occurs primarily under temporary migration regimes and for elementary occupations and medium skilled work. However, Asia is also an important source region for skilled workers (in particular China and India). In 2021, over a quarter of migrant inflows to OECD countries came from Asia and the Pacific (OECD, 2022).

The issue of distress migration features in certain corridors in the region, notably from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar; and there is climate change induced migration in the Pacific and small island states.

Migration corridors and sectors of employment are highly gendered. Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines have typically had large outflows of women migrants engaged in domestic work. Women have more labour market options in South-East Asia, where they find jobs in manufacturing, agriculture, hospitality and to a lesser extent in construction. Flows to the construction industry in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are dominated by men migrant workers. This is similarly true for the fishing sector in East and South-East Asia; as well as the seasonal worker flows from the Pacific Islands to New Zealand and Australia.

Irregular migration occurs in parallel with regular migration, though the figures vary by countries and sub-regions, and data and sources on estimated irregular flows are scarce.

Priorities

The effective governance of labour migration poses challenges and is shaped by powerful socio-economic and political factors. Gaps remain in the implementation of laws and policies in countries of origin and destination. Focus areas for the ILO in 2022-23 include protecting and promoting of the rights of women and men migrant workers including on fair recruitment and working conditions; contributing to economic development and inclusive growth – in particular labour mobility, skills development and recognition, and increasing development impact; contributing to climate resilience; supporting regional and inter-regional dialogues on labour migration; and improving harmonised data collection and statistics. Much of this needs to be done under the framework of contributing to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and in particular goals eight and ten, and regional economic integration.

Key priorities include supporting skills, remittances and reintegration; strengthening fair recruitment; decent working conditions; climate resilience; regional cooperation and statistics.

CPOs and Development Cooperation projects: In the current programming cycle of the ILO (2022-23) there are 14 target CPOs (Country Programme Outputs) in Asia and the Pacific under Outcome 7: Adequate and effective protection at work.   

Towards the achievement of these CPOs, ILO technical support is provided in the form of research; promotion of international labour standards and review of legislation and bilateral agreements; policy advice; training and workshops; development of tools and guides; support services to migrant workers; facilitation of sub-regional and inter-country partnerships and sharing of good practices. The vehicle for ILO support, in addition to the work by ILO specialists on labour migration and related fields, are the 12 development cooperation projects funded by governments of Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland and the UN. These projects provide the main means through which ILO programme objectives are realized in the region. They build on the ILO’s comparative advantage in the region as a tripartite and standard setting organization having expertise across the full spectrum of the world of work. In addition to development partners, the ILO collaborates with IOM, World Bank, UN Women, UNDP, UNODC, OECD, Asian Development Bank Institute and the ASEAN Secretariat. It is an Executive Committee member of the UN Network for Migration.

Current labour migration projects in Asia and the Pacific

South-East Asia

TRIANGLE in ASEAN
Coverage: ASEAN Duration: 2015-27 Development partners: Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia (2015-27) and Global Affairs Canada (2016-21)

Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region  
Coverage: ASEAN Duration: 2018-23 UN partner: UN Women, UNODC  Development partner: European Union (through the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative)

Southeast Asia regional programme on labour migration in the fishing sector
Coverage: Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam Duration: 2020-24 UN partners: IOM, UNDP Development partner: European Union

Protecting the Rights of Migrant Workers through Empowerment and Advocacy (MWEA)  
Coverage: Malaysia Duration: 2016-26 Development partner: US Department of Labor, Government of the United States of America

South Asia

Reintegration for Migrant Workers
Coverage: Bangladesh Duration: 2022-26 Development partner: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Migrant Rights and Decent Work Project (MIRIDEW) – Phase II
Coverage: Nepal Duration: 2023-26 Development partner: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Strengthening Socio-Economic Resilience of Returnee Migrants
Coverage: Sri Lanka Duration: 2021-23 UN partner: IOM Development partner: Government of Japan

Safe labour migration programme (Phase IV)
Coverage: Sri Lanka Duration: 2020-24 Development partner: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Governance of Labour Migration in South and South-East Asia (GOALS)
Coverage: South Asia focus Duration: 2020-24 UN partners: IOM and UN Women Development partner: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

The Pacific

Labour Mobility for Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience in the Pacific
Coverage: Pacific Island Countries of Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji Duration: 2020-24 UN partners: IOM, OHCHR, ESCAP Development partner: Migration Multi Partner Trust Fund

Mainstreaming Social Protection into Pacific Regional Labour Mobility Initiatives and Promoting the Extension of Social Protection to Migrant Workers
Coverage: Pacific Island Countries of ILO Pacific Member States Duration: 2023-24 UN partners: IOM, OHCHR, ESCAP Development partner: Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Pacific Climate Change Migration and Human Security (PCCMHS) Programme – Phase 2
Coverage: Pacific Island Countries of Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Palau, Niue, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia, French Polynesia (Pacific Island Forum Member States) Duration: 2023-25 UN partners: IOM, OHCHR, ESCAP Development partner: New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade