Roundtable on labour migration in Asia begins in Tokyo Jan 24

The 9th ADBI-OECD-ILO roundtable on labour migration in Asia begins in Tokyo on January 24.

ADBI has arranged the two-day event to foster regional cooperation towards innovative approaches for the effective management of labour migration in Asia and the Pacific, according to ADBI.

Around 25-30 government officials from 15 ADB Developing Member Countries (TBD) as well as 7-10 officials from OECD countries and around 10 officials from relevant Japanese organisations are expected to attend the roundtable.

 ADBI, OECD, and ILO staff and experts from global think tanks, academia, and Non-Governmental Organizations will also attend.

In 2015, over 40 per cent of all migrants globally originated from Asia.

Indeed, migration from, to, and within Asia has predominated internationally for decades. This trend has been driven by temporary labor movements to Gulf countries and OECD member countries, as well as intra-ASEAN and East Asia migration.

With the increasing movement of people across borders, the international community has become increasingly involved in the process to ensure humane and beneficial migration through sound regulatory measures.

Imperative frameworks of reference include the Sustainable Development Goals and the first-ever Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, adopted at the Intergovernmental Conference on 10-11 December 2018 in Marrakech, Morocco. Other international commitments include the 2017 ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, adopted by ASEAN leaders, and the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders’ Declaration that calls for continued dialogue on labor migration issues.

While there are well-functioning migration corridors and many good migration practices in Asia, not all labor migration here at present is safe, orderly, regular, or fair. In addition, irregular migration often occurs alongside regular migration with the help of unregulated private Labor Market Intermediaries such as recruitment agency and informal labor brokers, putting migrant workers in vulnerable positions. Moreover, migration corridors and sectors of employment are gender imbalanced. The growing pace of domestic-worker migration within the region, coupled with rapidly aging populations in some East and Southeast Asian countries, especially requires greater gender-responsive labour migration policy.

Against this backdrop, the 9th ADBI-OECD-ILO roundtable on labor migration in Asia will address issues to develop innovative approaches to labour migration as well as to contribute to the design of well-functioning migration governance structures.