Brawn Drain from Cambodia: A Comparative Study of Transnational Labour Migration to Malaysia and South Korea

Abstract

Abstract The paper examines and compares the transnational labour migration from Cambodia to Malaysia and South Korea, based on the first-hand data and information collected through in-depth interviews with concerned migrant labour. The study sheds light on that the Cambodian workers have changed to engage in new types of unskilled jobs when they move to work in Malaysia and South Korea, which are different from their occupations in Cambodia. The study demonstrates that labour migration to Malaysia and South Korea has helped maximizing the incomes of concerned households through sending remittance as a prevalent mode of risk minimisation. This study sheds light on the different patterns between the migrants in Malaysia and South Korea in two aspects: 1) remittance to home: the vast majority of the migrant workers in South Korea sent their salaries back home by remittance, while those in Malaysia sent limited remittance back home; 2) different mechanisms: scheme of Government-Agency (G-A) for emigration to Malaysia and Government-Government (G-G) for that to South Korea. The study enriches the literature on transnational labour migration by the evidence of brain drain from Cambodia to South Korea and Malaysia.