Migration and Women Migrants in Asia and Hong Kong

Abstract

Yuen examines the phenomenon of migration in Asia and the situation of migrants in an age of globalization, including the trend of labor migration, particularly women labor migration, with the concept of social exclusion. After examining women labor migration in general, the chapter discusses the situation of women migrants in Hong Kong. In addition to the challenges these migrant women face in general, Yuen employs a narrative approach by depicting stories of three groups of women migrants: foreign domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia, ethnic minority women from Pakistan, and immigrant women from Mainland China. This is to show the complexities of each human life. The author argues that their identities as migrants, women, and lower class lead them to face a threefold marginalization based on ethnicity, sex, and class. The challenges they face are multidimensional, including personal, familial, interpersonal, and structural.