..Press Release..............UNESCAP News Services

Date 15 September 2006
Press Release No. G/37/2006

“More regional cooperation needed on migrant worker issues”

Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) -- While the economic benefits of migration are apparent, its social costs remain a source of concern, cautions Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of UNESCAP.

Some of these concerns emanate from the feminization of international migration, family separation and its social costs on spouses, children and elderly parents left behind. International migration has consequences too for public health and the social protection of migrants, particularly undocumented migrants and victims of trafficking.

Mr. Kim was delivering remarks at the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development Roundtable 1: Effect of International Migration on Social and Economic Development,14 September 2006, New York.

Out of US$ 228 billion remitted worldwide in 2004, UNESCAP member countries in Asia-Pacific received about 85 billion. The top 6 remittance recipient developing countries in the region are: India (21.7 billion), China (21.3), Philippines (11.6), Pakistan (3.9), Bangladesh (3.6) and Viet Nam (3.2). The benefits of remittances are most evident at the household level.

The emigration of highly skilled persons threatens development in origin countries. A shortage of human capital in key development sectors could depress productivity and slow down economic growth.

International migration could give rise to problems affecting the well-being of children left behind. It is estimated that 3 to 6 million children have been left behind by Filipino parents working overseas. The equivalent figure for Indonesia is 1 million, while Thailand has half a million such children. Some difficulties faced by the children of migrants include neglect, poor performance in school, delinquency, and psychological and relationship problems.

Despite these social concerns, several studies show that parental migration does improve the material conditions of children left behind. Migrant households have higher incomes than households without migrants. Remittances boost household finances and help improve children’s education and health.

Migration could contribute to the empowerment of women, and hence promote gender equality. When women migrate and become the major income earner for the family their status in the family is changed for the better; when other family members migrate, the responsibility and decision making authority of women increases.

Migration could contribute to women’s empowerment and promote gender equality. When women migrate and become the major income earners for their family, their status in the family is enhanced. When other family members migrate, the responsibility and decision making authority of women also increase. “The region has tried to manage international migration mainly through bilateral agreements on labour migration between origin and destination countries. Where regional agreements exist they are mostly in the form of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) which have not evolved into plans of actions and operational processes,” said Mr. Kim.

Concrete action, for example, must be taken to end human trafficking ---- a pernicious form of irregular migration that involves deception, coercion, exploitation, abuse and violence. To eliminate this, the region needs effective counter-trafficking policies and programmes.

Protecting the rights of migrants is a necessity. A significant step towards this is for countries to ratify the international conventions pertaining to the protection of migrants, Mr. Kim urged.

The estimated number of international migrants in the world exceeded 190 million in 2005. Of these, migrants within Asia and the Pacific comprised one third or about 58 million --- 53 million in Asia and 5 million in the Pacific.

Over the past decade, several regional consultative processes (RCPs) have emerged in the ESCAP region for the management of international migration. Most countries in the region participate in one or more of the following RCPs: the Manila Process, primarily focused on reducing irregular migration and trafficking since 1996); the Inter-Governmental Asia-Pacific Consultation on Refugees and Displaced Persons (APC) (since 1996); the Bali Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime – known as the Bali Process (since 2002); the Colombo Process, a ministerial consultation on labour migration for countries of origin in Asia (since 2003); and COMMIT (Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking), an initiative focusing on human trafficking (since 2003).

Regional Consultative Processes (RCPs) build trust and improve dialogue among countries because they are non-binding, informal, and are efficient in functioning parallel to more formal structures. However, the RCPs focus on specific migration issues, such as irregular migration, trafficking or refugees.

So far, there is no forum for discussing broader migration issues to tackle both the social and economic implications of the migration-development nexus. Migration policies in Asia-Pacific tend to address migration issues in isolation. Government efforts to manage international migration in the region have mainly been through bilateral agreements on labour migration between origin and destination countries. Where agreements exist, they are mostly in the form of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) which have not evolved into plans of actions and operational processes.

On broader migration and development issues, ESCAP could invoke its convening power and use its institutional resources to help strengthen policy, as well as foster regional dialogue, common understanding and consensus.

For further information, please contact:
David Lazarus, Chief, UN Information Services Bangkok
Tel: (66-2) 288-1866
Fax: (66-2) 288-1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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