International Labor Migration Research Articles

THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR MIGRANTS

This paper reviews the role and importance of international organisations in protecting international labour migrants' rights. Millions of people are crossing borders to seek employment, and the protection of their rights is essentially related to their fair treatment, social security, and access to justice in a foreign country. Key organisations, such as the International Labour Organization and the United Nations, have developed conventions, policies, and frameworks that would guide labor migrants for workplace conditions, social protection, legal assistance, and family reunification. This article examines the shifting landscape of labor migrant rights using international conventions and organizational activities, along with the problems involved in creating and implementing such protection for them across the world. Current works to adapt international standards to the heterogeneous requirements of labor migrants and reviews future strategies that will enhance these protections at a global level, are also given due consideration.

A mutual aid group for pastoral care practitioners providing services to international migrant laborers

ABSTRACT In the days following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a mutual aid group for pastoral care practitioners who serve international labor migrants (ILMs) was conducted virtually. This article describes the formation and proceedings of this brief mutual aid group for pastoral care practitioners. While describing the content that emerged during the three sessions, some important processes and dimensions of mutual aid groups are highlighted. Additionally, the article shares details about the valuable services rendered by pastoral care practitioners supporting ILMs, alongside the complexity, prolonged presence, and invisibility of ILMs in Israeli society at large. It argues that mutual aid groups are an effective intervention to support these professionals, who know firsthand the situation of ILMs and migrant communities and continued to care for them during the recent events and resulting war.

The impact of internal labor migration on morbidity rates with temporary disability in the Russian Federation

Introduction. One of the most important indicators of the health of the working population is the incidence of temporary disability. The statistical data do not take into account the temporary labor migration of the population, which distorts the idea of the morbidity of the permanent population at the level of the subjects of the Russian Federation and municipalities. The study aims to carry out a comparative assessment of the temporary disability (ТD) level and rating places of the subjects of the Russian Federation on the basis of statistical indicators "Number of cases of TD" and "Number of days of TD" per 100 employees and calculated indicators per 100 employed in the economy. Materials and methods. The article tells about the use of federal statistical observation data. Specialists have made their own calculations of indicators of the level of temporary disability by the number of cases and days per 100 employed in the economy. A direct ranking was carried out in descending order of all the studied indicators. The authors also conducted a direct ranking in descending order of all the studied indicators and performed a comparative analysis of the rating places of the subjects of the Russian Federation according to the level of temporary disability, according to official statistical data per 100 employees and calculated data per 100 employed. Results. In almost 30% of the subjects of the Russian Federation, significant changes were detected in 20 or more rating places, both with the shift of regions into groups with higher levels and with lower levels of morbidity. Limitations. The materials used in this study did not take into account the gender and age characteristics of morbidity. Conclusion. At the present stage, it is necessary to develop new methodological approaches for the analysis of the temporary disability at the regional and municipal levels, their introduction into the system of social and hygienic monitoring and the system of risk management for public health. The use of the indicator "number of people employed in the economy" to analyze temporary disability at the territorial (regional, municipal) level more accurately reflects the level of morbidity of the permanent population living in the study area. Ethics. The conclusion of the local Ethics Committee is not required for conducting the study.

Does Information Improve the Experience of Pursuing Labor Migration? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Pakistan

A large literature on international labor migration explores how to improve low-skilled migrants’ experience of pursuing and obtaining overseas employment. Much of this scholarship focuses on describing and mitigating difficult, and sometimes exploitative, conditions in the host country. Scholars have paid less attention to factors in home countries that may affect aspiring migrants’ experience of looking for overseas work. We help address this gap by conducting a field experiment in the high out-migration country of Pakistan to examine whether receiving new information about employment brokers and overseas opportunities improves aspiring migrants’ subjective and objective experience of the job-seeking process. After analyzing the effects of information on those who lack alternative sources of information, we report mixed findings. These highlight the need to think carefully about ways to improve aspiring migrants’ job-seeking experiences, especially with regard to the common assumption that if low-skilled migrants simply “knew more” — that is, had more relevant and accurate information — they would not allow themselves to have negative migration experiences; our findings suggest this is not necessarily always the case.

Minimum wage and internal labor migration: Evidence from China

We study the geographical allocation consequences of minimum wage, using individual-level migration data and the substantial variation over time in minimum wages across 262 counties in China. Our preferred specification shows that a 10% increase in the local minimum wage decreases the probability of outmigration by 1.52 percentage points. Using data from a major online recruitment platform, we further corroborate the main finding by showing that workers are less likely to search for a job in other cities when their city of residence experiences an increase in minimum wage.

Infrastruktura migracyjna w Polsce i jej wielowymiarowość na przykładzie filipińskiego vloga YouTube

International labor migration is increasingly facilitated by unofficial intermediaries who play a significant role within the diverse migration infrastructure. Growing uncertainty about the future caused by conflicts, economic crises, or pandemics has led migrants to increasingly seek employment through the Internet, where micro-influencers become active assistants, providing advice to those seeking work abroad. In recent years, Overseas Filipino Workers have become such active online intermediaries. Migrant vlogs have become an integral part of the multidimensional migration infrastructure, facilitating transnational labor intermediation and exposing issues related to navigating infrastructural dimensions for basic infrastructure users – migrants. The article aims to illustrate the multidimensionality of migration infrastructure through the example of the YouTube vlog. Despite attempts to liberalize migration management methods, such as through the possibility of seeking employment online, they have not led to the development of migrants’ migratory capacities. Nowadays, migrants – the basic infrastructure users – have to navigate through additional elements of infrastructure (vlogs) as well as face growing bureaucratization of the process itself, which should be considered an example of infrastructural involution (Xiang and Lindquist 2014). The paper presents the results of a qualitative content analysis of the comments posted under the video of a Filipina vlogger living in Poland, who provides advice on her YouTube channel to people interested in employment. The results illustrate the multidimensionality of migration infrastructure on the example of a vlog and prove the infrastructural involution resulting from the growing complexity of commentators’ needs.

Remittances and Livestock Management in Agropastoral Households in Rural Kyrgyzstan: Telecoupled Impacts of Globalization☆

AbstractAgropastoralism and international labor migration are livelihood strategies that are interconnected as dominant ways of life across rural Kyrgyzstan. A prevalent rural livelihood strategy—agropastoralism—is closely tied to agrarian semi‐nomadic ways of life that link families and communities to the surrounding mountain environment. Another livelihood strategy—international labor migration—links or telecouples communities and income streams to transnational family structures, international labor markets, and distant economies. This article examines four hypothetical relationships between key elements of these two livelihood strategies. The relationship between remittances, pasture access, and livestock holdings is examined by analyzing 1,815 household surveys from southern rural Kyrgyzstan. We find remittances and livestock holdings have a significant positive relationship when a household is receiving a large amount of remittances, but not when the remittances received are modest. We also find that access to more distant, productive pastures is positively associated with the receipt of any amount of remittances. These findings demonstrate the ways in which migration and remittances can impact livestock management and agropastoral livelihoods at different levels of remittance reception.

Вплив міжнародної трудової міграції на ринок праці країн ЄС

The problems of international labor migration have been studied in detail from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. However, there is a lack of comprehensive, systematic studies that would take into account the impact of modern immigration flows on the economy of the European Union, especially on the part of the Ukrainian workforce that received temporary shelter in the EU. This article is devoted to some topical issues of this still unsolved scientific problem.

Politics of International Labor Migration and the Survival of (Illegal) Brokers in Indonesia

Indonesian labor migration is a multifaceted process heavily influenced by private actors, particularly brokers who operate both within the bounds of legality as recruitment agencies and outside it as illicit recruiters. These brokers are frequently accused of exploiting Indonesian migrant workers, leading to government efforts to limit their roles. However, despite legislative efforts, such as the 2017 law aimed at restricting the roles of labor-recruiting companies and illegal brokers, these intermediaries persist. Drawing on the concept of brokerage and the Theory of Strategic Action Field, this article explains why brokers remain despite legislative challenges. This study also argues that state regulations inadvertently create structural holes, thereby providing brokers with opportunities to maintain their involvement in labor migration. Through 56 in-depth interviews with various actors—including current and former migrant workers, recruiters, recruitment agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs), and government officials—the study illuminates how the Indonesian government’s framing of "procedural migration” contains inherent loopholes. Brokers then exploited these gaps to legitimize their presence and assert control over workers’ destinies. These brokers adeptly adapt to regulatory changes and influence migration.

Food security among female migrant workers in Kerala returning from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

This paper seeks to enhance our comprehension of the interplay between COVID-19, international labour migration, and food security. The primary objective is to discern food security characteristics among female migrant workers (FMWs) returning to Kerala from Gulf countries, particularly under heightened social and economic uncertainties shared with male migrant workers (MMWs). This study conducted in the state of Kerala, India, examines the food security perceptions of Gulf migrants using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Samples of both returning FMWs and MMWs were identified through snowball sampling from the latest Kerala Migrant Survey (KMS) 2018 and Return migrant survey 2021. Oversampling was conducted for return FMWs, otherwise only constituting 20 per cent of the random sample. A total of 1154 samples were collected across all 14 districts in Kerala. The analysis indicates that food insecurity was not prevalent among the majority but was significant among a minority of surveyed migrant workers. The results also show that while FMWs experience food insecurity as a lack of access to food variety, MMWs experience food insecurity in the access to food varieties and the absolute quantity of food.

Empirical Analysis of the Effects of International Labor Migration in EU-27 Countries

Abstract This research aims to provide a critical and comparative analysis of the effects induced by international labor migration in Europe, focusing on specific features and key factors that influence and shape the migration process in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical uncertainty. For conducting a comprehensive study on international labor migration among the member states of the European Union (EU-27), a cross-sectional database of specific migration, labor market, and economic welfare indicators was compiled at the level of 2021. These indicators were subjected to advanced econometric modeling embedding spatial and network analyses processed with the Stata 16 package and the JASP platform to obtain robust and valid results. Main findings of this study provide valuable insights into the evolution and impact of international labor migration, particularly in Romania and the European Union at large. This study serves as a benchmark for future migration strategies by exemplifying the specific characteristics of employees and jobs that will be required in the coming years, while also focusing on identifying the key skills and requirements of both native and migrant employees. Future trends are being analyzed by identifying the characteristics of the modern employee and the professions that will dominate the labor market in the coming years. This will help policymakers appraise migrants’ ability to secure employment in an ever-changing labor market.

The role of cross-cultural adaptation in the relationship between leisure constraints, motivation, and travel intention: a case study of Vietnamese migrant workers

ABSTRACT In recent years, the global phenomenon of international labor migration has become a pressing issue. This migration not only contributes significantly to host nations’ economies but also raises complex social and cultural questions, particularly when it comes to the leisure lives and constraints faced by migrant workers. Surprisingly, the experiences of migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, remain understudied and undertheorized in the existing literature. This research aims to fill this gap by exploring the impact of cross-cultural adaptation on the intricate relationship between leisure constraints, travel motivation, and travel intention among Vietnamese migrant workers in Taiwan. A sample of 322 Vietnamese migrant workers in Taiwan was used to test the research framework. The relationships between leisure constraints, travel motivation, cross-cultural adaptation, and travel intention were investigated. Furthermore, the mediating role of cross-cultural adaptation is also identified in this study. By examining migrant workers through cross-cultural adaptation theory, these findings contribute to the body of knowledge in this field. Furthermore, the contribution to practical implications is to increase migrant workers’ travel intention, improve their general well-being, and facilitate their integration into their host countries.

Marxist past to speculative futures: migration, land markets, and political storytelling in Nepal’s Tarai

ABSTRACT In southeastern Nepal, international labor migration has led to complex socioeconomic changes, including expanding smallholder landownership, class differentiation, and the transformation of land from a productive to a speculative asset. Based on ethnographic research focusing on villagers’ narratives, this article finds that political imaginaries drawing on rural Marxist thought play a crucial role for interpreting recent historical experience but are losing purchase amidst increasingly dispersed, opaque, and contradictory processes of accumulation. It then identifies the emergence of a new speculative imaginary, through which villagers attempt to navigate but also reinforce these new constellations of inequality, capital, and labor.

Europe and Arab States’ Migration-related Instruments with Africa: Dilemma of Soft Power and Conflictual Interests

The national and regional interests of the European Union, oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council and Africa are conflictual in addressing international labour migration. This underscores the structure and ineffectiveness of bilateral migration instruments. The European Union canvasses for migrants’ returns, readmission and outsourcing of national border controls; Arab states show reluctance to stop the predominant employer–sponsorship system that curtails labour migrants’ human rights, while African states detest migrants’ return and readmission, and prefer liberalisation of legal migration and flow of remittances. This article is anchored on the hegemonic stability and regime frame of interventionist liberalism theoretical perspectives to highlight Europe’s soft power in migration partnerships or agreements deployed via financial aid and development projects as a way to drive the migration-development-security nexus with African countries. Essentially, African states’ asymmetric economic relationship with Europe has accentuated the carrot-and-stick approach, while Arab states’ slow pace in allowing the mobility of African labour migrants has led to a reduction in remittance flows. It is recommended that the dialogues between the regional blocs and countries leading to labour migration agreements must find a common ground of mutual interests for effective partnerships to emerge.

Analysing transnational labour mobility regimes

Labour regime analysis is enjoying a resurgence as a way of (re-)centring workers at the heart of questions concerning the organisation of production and social reproduction in the global economy (Baglioni et al, 2022). Migrant labour, and specifically the regulation of migrant labour, is part and parcel of these dynamics yet is often left to the sidelines of labour process studies. Bringing together six papers presented at the 2023 International Labour Process Conference at Strathclyde University, this themed issue of Work in the Global Economy considers how our understandings of international labour migration and its regulation can be extended through a transnational labour mobility regime approach. The rationale is to bring together labour process approaches and theoretical insights from migration studies. These six contributions examine how transnational labour mobility within and from the majority world intersects with a variety of specific local labour control regimes (Jonas, 1996), collectively foregrounding how the bordering of capital-labour relations (within/ beyond the worksite/ state) informs workers’ individual and collective struggles for life and livelihoods.

Statistical analysis of international labour migration strategy from India to the Gulf countries

This study investigates the economic implications of migration, specifically focusing on the monetary expenses incurred during the migration process and the fundraising methods employed by the Gulf migrant workers from Bihar. The research involved a sample of 400 participants obtained using a three-stage cluster sampling method. The participants were Gulf migrant labourers originating from the Siwan and Gopalganj districts of Bihar. The findings of the chi-square test indicate that both technical education and prior job experience have a significant impact on reducing migration expenses. However, it is worth noting that the process of getting visas through agents is costly, even though the majority of migrant workers rely on the services of agents. The average overall expense for Gulf migration exceeds three times the earnings acquired in the destination country. The regression analysis revealed that several factors, such as the age of migrant workers, technical education, source of visa, level of education, and prior job experience, had a statistically significant influence on the cost of migration. For the fund-raising strategy, migrant labourers rely largely on their parents and social networks. The practice of obtaining funds from moneylenders is still prevalent among migrants. The study sheds light on the key determinants of migration costs for workers and emphasizes the crucial role of social networks and family support in facilitating migration. Additionally, this study offers policy recommendations aimed at reducing the financial burden associated with migration and it proposes that the government should engage in partnerships with financial institutions to establish dedicated lending initiatives for migrant workers, referred to as migration loans.

DETERMINAN MIGRASI INTERNASIONAL TENAGA KERJA

Labor migration is a phenomenon that occurs in various regions, especially East Java Province as one of the provinces that has a high level of productivity. The movement of labor can be influenced by various factors. This study aims to analyze the determinants of international labor migration in East Java in 2015-2019. the type of data used in this study is secondary data. The research method used in this research is panel data regression. The results of the study show that the GRDP variable influences positively but not significantly, while poverty and unemployment variables influences negatively and react not significantly. Meanwhile, the district/city minimum wage variable influences negatively and significantly on the number of international labor migration in East Java.

Preconditions and Sources of International Labour Migration in the Era of Globalisation (Security Aspects)

Preconditions and Sources of International Labour Migration in the Era of Globalisation (Security Aspects)

Factors associated with depressive symptoms among returnee migrants and non-migrants working adults in Madi municipality in Nepal: a community-based cross-sectional study

BackgroundMental health is a growing concern worldwide. It is not well understood whether international labour migrants from Nepal who return to Nepal are at higher risk of developing mental health problems. The purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence of and examine the associated factors for depressive symptoms among returnee migrants and non-migrant working male adults in Nepal.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of a probability-based sample of 725 participants was conducted in February 2020. The sample was comprised of two groups based on migration status: returning migrants and non-migrants. The 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21) questionnaire was used to assess depressive symptoms. Logistic regression was applied to investigate factors associated with symptoms of depression.ResultsThe overall prevalence of depressive symptoms was 10.1%. However, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was lower (7%) among returnee migrants compared to non-migrants (13.7%). Men in the lower income group had a higher chance of having depressive (AOR = 5.88, 95% CI: 2.17–15.96) than those in the higher income group. Similarly, Buddhists and Christians were more likely to be depressed (AOR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.03–4.68) than Hindus. Participants with more than two children had a higher chance of having of depressive symptoms (AOR = 4.80, 95% CI: 1.15–20.05) compared with those without children. Unmarried men were more likely to be depressed (AOR = 4.07, 95%, CI:1.11–14.92) than those who were married.ConclusionThe working Nepali adult male population in Nepal, including returning migrants, is at risk of depressive symptoms, but this association was lower in those in the higher income group, returnee migrants, those who were married, Hindus and those with no children. Our results highlight the need to monitor and develop national policies to ensure the mental health of the Nepali male adult population, including returnee migrants.

Trade and Labor-Allocation: Evidence from Sectoral Embodied Labor Transfer between China and Africa

Trade and Labor-Allocation: Evidence from Sectoral Embodied Labor Transfer between China and Africa