Governance Of Labour Migration Research Articles

Advancing emigrants' rights in India: strategies of civil society in spaces for engagement

ABSTRACT This article explores Indian civil society's efforts to promote the rights of migrant Indian labourers working abroad in low-wage employment as a response to weakly institutionalized rights frameworks in the global and India's national governance of labour migration. Existing scholarship has explored civil societies' advocacy in multi-national fora, at regional levels, and as forms of transnationally organized networks, but only marginally at the analytical level of migrant-origin states. The article examines their multi-level and multi-stakeholder strategies through the analytical lens of spaces for engagement. Drawing on original qualitative data, this article shows that civil society organizations play a leading role in (e)migration governance in India and are key to understanding the politics of migration of the world’s largest migrant-origin state. In particular, the local and subnational levels are important entry points to advance their agendas in the context of migrant-origin states.

Temporary Labor Migration from Sri Lanka to Gulf Cooperation Countries: Analyzing Labor Trafficking Amidst the Financial Crisis

Background and Aims: The financial crisis in Sri Lanka (SL) has marked a significant growth in temporary labor migration to Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC). Temporary labor migration refers to migration from one state to another in pursuit of employment opportunities for a temporary period. The National Policy on Migration for Employment (NPME) and the National Action Plan of SL asserted the importance of developing labor migration policies in response to the country’s severe need for remittances during the financial crisis. A financial crisis occurs when a country's expenditure exceeds its national income, resulting in a shortage of goods and services for its citizens. Along with this understanding, this paper examines how the temporary labor migration from SL to GCC has developed in response to the financial crisis in the country. It argues that reforming labor migration policies solely based on remittance does not appear to be adequate to protect migrants from trafficking. In this setting, the key research question is how labor trafficking has risen amidst the financial crisis in SL. Methodology: In this study, Delphi indicators have been utilized to identify the demarcations of labor trafficking. The data was collected from thirty interviews conducted with family members of labor migrants who migrated to GCC in 2022. Results: The results indicate that shortcomings in the governance of labor migration during the financial crisis in SL have led to an increase in labor trafficking. Conclusion: The paper concludes with the discursive, implementation, and efficacy gaps in the governance of labor migration and suggests a right-based framework to guarantee equitable recruitment procedures.

Migtech, fintech and fair migration in Malaysia: addressing the protection gap between migrant rights and labour policies

This paper suggests that digitalisation fills the protection gap between labour policies and practices on migrant rights. Digital technologies have shaped how the Malaysian state views its migrant protection policy. Malaysia has tapped into the potential of migration technology (migtech) and financial technology (fintech) to address various challenges faced in its labour migration governance. Malaysia, a migrant-receiving country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has improved its migrant protection policy by digitalising migration management governance, wage payments, and financial services for migrant workers. This paper thus contributes to ongoing debates on fair migration by looking at how technology interventions could bridge the long-standing protection gap resulting from states’ institutional limitations, defective migration systems, unethical recruitment by intermediaries, and implementation gaps (i.e. discrepancies between labour legislation and implementation by state and non-state actors). Digitalisation addresses migrant protection gaps through preventing unethical recruitment, offsetting barriers to regular migration, monitoring labour law infringements, and ensuring employer compliance with immigration and labour laws.

Contributors

Jessica Ball, MPH, PhD, is a professor with the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria, Canada. She has taught, consulted, and completed research on the determinants of marginalization of children and youth on three continents, focusing primarily on Southeast Asia. Her recent studies have addressed outcomes of transnational labor migration for children and families in Indonesia as well as the experiences of forced migration among young people from Myanmar and the Middle East who are living in Thailand and Malaysia (www.youthmigrationproject.com).Harriot Beazley is an associate professor of human geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast Maroochydore. Her research interests are located within social and development geography and children's geographies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.Amanda R. Cheong is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia. Her research examines the relationships between legal status and inequality, with a focus on undocumented, stateless, and refugee populations. She is currently working on a book project, tentatively titled Omitted Lives, that explores the causes and consequences of exclusion from civil registration systems.Carolyn Areum Choi is a Guarini Dean's postdoctoral fellow in Asian and Asian American studies at Dartmouth College. Her research examines how race, class, education, and migration intersect across the Asian diaspora, and her current book project looks at the rise of South Korean labor and educational mobilities in intra-Asian and different Anglo-American settler contexts.Sari K. Ishii is a professor at the College of Sociology, Rikkyo University, Tokyo. Her research interests include minorities, transnationalism, citizenship, and statelessness. Her work has focused on migration and tourism in East and Southeast Asia, especially Thailand and Japan.Misaki Iwai is a professor with the Department of Asian Languages, Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba, Japan. Her research interests are in the fields of family relations, care, and transnational marriage migration, with a special focus on Vietnam.Maggi W. H. Leung is a professor of international development studies with the Department of Geography, Spatial Planning, and International Development at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on the uneven geographies of migration and development, Chinese diaspora, and the internationalization of education.Rhacel Salazar Parreñas is a professor of sociology and gender and sexuality studies at the University of Southern California. Her areas of interest include gender, labor, migration, family, and economic sociology.Nicola Piper, formerly a professor of international migration and founding director of the Sydney Asia Pacific Migration Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia, is a Global Professorial Research Fellowship awardee, funded by the British Academy, at the Queen Mary University of London. Her key research interests are global and regional governance of labor migration, advocacy politics, and gendered migration.Charlie Rumsby is a fellow at the Sociological Review Journal, based at Keele University, and has a visiting research fellowship with the Anthropology Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her recent work explores identity and belonging among Vietnamese children living as de facto stateless in Cambodia, and it covers themes such as citizenship, human rights, morality, religious conversion, ethnicity, and intergenerational mobilities.Johanna L. Waters is a professor of human geography at University College London, where she is the codirector of the Migration Research Unit. She specializes in migration, transnationalism, and (international) education. Her work has largely focused on East Asia and trans-Pacific educational mobilities.

(Ir)relevant doctrines and African realities: neoliberal and Marxist influences on labour migration governance in Southern Africa

Southern Africa has a long and complex history of migration. This article argues that overall, the mechanisms for governing migration and the practice of migration in the region ignore prevailing theoretical and ideological influences. Instead, Southern Africa operates on an age-long labour migration governance system predicated on private capital. The article qualitatively analyses scholarly literature, migration policy and legislation, and data from interviews with relevant stakeholders. Southern Africa could benefit more from favourably governing migration at the regional rather than the national level. This is consistent with the African Union’s preferred approach to integrating Africa. Also, sociocultural traits in borderland communities of neighbouring Southern African countries tend to be shared and traverse state borders.

Migration and Development in Egypt—A Holistic View

The importance of labour migration as an instrument for states’ development has been a key consideration for a range of countries across the global South. Egypt was one of the first states across North Africa and the Middle East to establish specific policies on the governance of labour migration in the context of social and economic development, which have been effective since the early 1970s. This chapter aims to identify the range of policies introduced by the Egyptian state with the aim of governing migration, and to examine the distinct contributions of cross-border socioeconomic mobility to development. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources in Arabic and English, as well as extensive fieldwork in Cairo, the chapter points to the fact that Egyptian public policies aim to attract far more than economic remittances; and demonstrates how Egypt approaches migration in a holistic manner, seeking to maximise the benefits from citizens’ emigration and their time abroad, while also encouraging return skilled migration.

Global partnerships in governing labour migration: the uneasy relationship between the ILO and IOM in the promotion of decent work for migrants

This paper examines the multi-actor and multi-sited character of global labour migration governance as a sphere in which various organisations seek influence on the direction of global policy via various methods. We focus on the relational dynamics between the two key organisations which engage in the governance of labour migration, yet which have fundamentally different mandates and modes for governing: the ILO and the IOM. This paper contributes to the existing literature on global migration governance and the role of international organisations by applying the concept of ‘global partnerships’ to our examination of the relationship between those two key international organisations in the field of migration. We characterise the evolving ILO–IOM global partnership as an uneasy alliance along a “competition/clash-cooperation spectrum” and argue that, in order to manage the competing-cooperating dynamics, a type of strategic ILO–IOM partnership has emerged, an alliance which has also been driven by the blurring of public and private realms in new global migration governing forms and formats. The ultimate question raised by these developments is whether this global partnership will promote or obstruct the advancement of the decent work policy agenda for migrant workers.

Foreign Labour Migration and Governance in Nepal

This paper examines the history and current situation of international foreign labour migration in Nepal. The volume of foreign labour migration in Nepal is in increasing trend. This paper highlights the volumes of absentee population including countries of destinations of labour migrants. The objective of paper is to discuss historical and current aspects of foreign labour migration including governance of labour migration in Nepal. The paper is developed with the help of secondary sources of information and discussed only in Nepalese context in relation with the bilateral, regional and global context. Some major push and pull factors related to foreign labour migration including frequently changing governance acts, policies are also discussed. To govern international foreign labour migration provisions on national, bi-lateral, regional and international level with Nepal’s position are highlighted. The lack of stable and foreign labour friendly migration policies are being unable to address problems of Nepalese migrants properly.

The ILO and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: labour migration, decent work and implementation of the Compact with specific reference to the Arab states region

AbstractThis paper explores the role played by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the consultations and stocktaking during 2017 and the negotiations during 2018 leading up to the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). It examines selected parts of the text of the GCM, with particular reference to the ILO's mandate of securing social justice and decent work, as well as the protection of migrant workers and governance of labour migration. The final part of the paper looks ahead to the ILO's role in the implementation of the GCM, with specific reference to the Arab states region, where migration for employment is significant and the governance challenges, particularly in relation to the protection of low-wage and low-skilled workers, are especially acute.

10 Migrants caught in crises: Contexts, responses and innovation

10 Migrants caught in crises: Contexts, responses and innovation

So close but yet so far? Labour Migration Governance in Italy and Spain

AbstractSouthern European countries have traditionally been perceived as weak immigration countries with inefficient legal entry avenues for foreign workers, high irregular migration rates and poor integration policies. In recent years, however, the adoption of more efficient control policies, new recruitment strategies and embryonic integration plans throughout the region has led to a change of paradigm in the governance of migration. And yet policy reforms do not seem to have produced the same results everywhere. The aim of this article is to enquire into possible explanations for the divergent paths of labour migration governance in Southern Europe, using Italy and Spain as comparative cases. As it will emerge, policy efficacy in the field of labour migration relates not only to the quality and consistency of policy design and implementation but also to factors that escape direct political control.

Labour Migration Governance in Times of Political Transition: A Comparative Analyisis of Egypt and Tunisia

The 2011 uprisings that culminated into the Arab Awakening were expected to engender seminal changes in the political systems of Egypt and Tunisia. Renewed calls to protect Egyptian and Tunisian migrants abroad were at first launched in the two countries. This paper examines patterns of continuity and change affecting policies and institutions of labour migration in Egypt and Tunisia. After outlining key institutions with mandate over labour migration, including a brief analysis of the two countries’ labour markets, the paper assesses policies that promote employment abroad and protections for migrants. Egypt has made few changes in labour migration policies or institutions. Tunisia went further but without undertaking radical changes in its policies and institutions.

Migration Policies and Migrant Employment Outcomes

While a number of studies explored the demographic and human capital attributes affecting migrant socio-economic assimilation, less is known about the role of immigration status on entry. In particular, little evidence exists on the employment outcomes of migrants admitted outside economic immigration channels (family, study, asylum or permit-free) and joining the labour market once in the country of destination. This paper addresses this knowledge gap. Its conceptual framework for understanding how immigration status on arrival influences access to the labour market highlights the role of selectivity mechanisms and of different rights and constraints characterizing the legal situation of migrants who enter via different admission routes. The empirical analysis builds on original estimates of the migrant workforce by immigration status on entry based on the 2008 Ad-Hoc Module of the EU Labour Force Survey. Logistic regressions show that immigration status on arrival affects the participation in the labour market, the probability of being unemployed and the access to a job commensurate to the migrant skills. While the participation of family migrants and refugees in the labour market is positively associated with their length of stay, these categories retain a significant unemployment disadvantage in almost all European destinations. This gap becomes particularly evident at the intersection of immigration status and gender. Results suggest the need for a more holistic approach to the governance of labour migration that takes into account the long-term trends of migrant labour supply.

The Governance of Migrant Labour Supply in Europe, Before and During the Crisis

After more than two decades of policy inertia, since the late 1990s a new interest in labour migration arose across Europe and at the EU level. This translated into a new season of policy experimentation which expressed itself in very different forms across the continent. Such an uneven wave of policy change has not been interrupted by the crisis, which however has deeply altered its dynamics, propelling innovation in some countries and blocking it elsewhere. Based on in-depth fieldwork carried out in the framework of a comparative research project ( www.labmiggov.eu ) in six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) and at EU level, this special issue aims at generating fresh empirical knowledge and new theoretical insights into the complexities of labour migration governance in Europe. In an attempt to go beyond a limited understanding of labour migration policies as admission of foreigners for working purposes, all the articles share a common theoretical framework based on the concept of ‘migrant labour supply (MLS) policies’. Under this conceptual umbrella, different functional equivalents of (and alternatives to) direct labour migration policies are considered. Besides setting the broad empirical scene, illustrating the common conceptual foundations of the special issue and providing an overview of the articles’ main findings, this Introduction formulates some core arguments. It is argued that determining and constantly adjusting the composition of MLS policy mixes is a fundamental expression of states’ agency in the field of labour migration, especially in times of major economic fluctuations. I also contend that such national MLS policy mixes can be explained as country-specific attempts to find and constantly adapt ‘paths of least resistance’ meant to maximise fulfilment of labour immigration demands while minimising resistances to it.

Labour Migration for Decent Work in Afghanistan: Issues and Challenges

This publication addresses the issue of moving from a refugee and informal movement framework to a formal labour migration system in Afghanistan. It draws upon a variety of scattered sources of information to build up a picture of labour migration trends and profile in Afghanistan. Return of a large number of refugees close to six million in recent years, the continuing informal and irregular movements to Iran and Pakistan, and limited movements to the Gulf region are highlighted. There is high vulnerability of Afghan migrants in irregular status, and the economy is not able to sustain the large number of returnees and deportees from neighbouring countries.The paper discusses the role of remittances, return migration and diaspora engagement in promoting migration and development linkages.The paper reviews the institutional and legislative framework for labour migration, and protection and support services for migrant workers and the key challenges now and in the future. There are serious gaps in the labour migration governance and protection framework. There is weak capacity in the government machinery dealing with labour migration. It notes that Afghanistan lags far behind other Asian origin countries in the infrastructure required to promote formal labour migration operations.On the basis of the review, it identifies critical areas for improving policies for expansion of labour migration for decent work in Afghanistan - a key priority of the Afghan government.

Stranded migrants: a call to rethink the current labour migration paradigm

Examining recent cases in which migrant workers have been deemed ‘stranded’ and the emerging international discourse on the concept of stranded migrants, we explore the need for clarity with regard to who stranded migrants are, and for a paradigm shift in the governance of labour migration in response to such circumstances. The crisis in Libya, flooding in Thailand and the tsunami/nuclear disaster in Japan – all of which have legitimately rendered migrants stranded – and the ensuing talk about stranding at the international level reveal significant gaps in the current thinking on labour migration. Migrants stranded in emergencies call attention to serious flaws in the prevailing labour migration regime, and their struggle for the recognition of their rights illuminates the need for a thorough overhaul of accepted practices in migration governance. Furthermore, the emerging international discourse on stranded migrants points to a worryingly myopic understanding of the concept of stranding that risks relegating stranded migrants to the realm of humanitarian assistance, smartly giving states leeway to circumvent more complex conversations about the human rights failings of the labour migration regime that continually lead migrants to become ‘stuck’ in countries of transit and/or destination.

Becoming a Migrant at Home: Subjectivation Processes in Migrant‐Sending Countries Prior to Departure

ABSTRACTLabour emigration is not merely the business of states and governmental policies, but comes with a range of wider societal practices. This includes the production of – and contestation over – the ‘ideal migrant subject’. This paper examines the complex interplay of actors and practices involved in migrant subject‐making processes paying close attention to the pre‐employment temporary labour migration process step by step from screening, recruitment, pre‐departure training up to employment‐matching. It asks how prospective migrants are transformed into ‘ideal’ migrant subjects. This contribution primarily draws from data from the Philippines and India. It is argued that migrants actually become migrants before they ever leave their home country: Labour‐sending states set the regulatory frameworks and co‐produce ‘ideal migrant subjects’ from which other social actors draw or contest. In contrast to most studies on the governance of labour migration, the authors highlight the role of subject formation as an important element of modern migration management. To the scholarship that actually takes into account subjectivation processes, this paper adds material both on the labour‐sending state as well as on non‐state actors. The paper, moreover, draws out subject‐making from previous studies where it is less central and more implicit. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Limits of the competition state? The cultural political economy of European labor migration policies

Labor migration has been revitalized as part of economic competition and growth strategies across Europe over the last decade. Scholars have framed policy changes towards more liberal recruitment as a turn towards ‘competition state’ and Schumpeterian innovation goals. This article evaluates the extent to which British, French and German labor admission policies are dominated by competition state logics. I apply a cultural political economy perspective, thereby substantiating this relatively new approach analytically and testing its usefulness for capturing the economic governance of labor migration. I argue that the highly selective arrangement of admissions – with regard to skill-level targeted, and causal, spatial, and operational foci of recruitment – creates a fragmented cultural political economy of labor migration. While competition state logics shape the economic imaginary of ‘high-skilled global labor competiveness’, rival logics dominate the imaginaries of ‘skilled national labor shortages’, and ‘lower skilled EU labor self-sufficiency’. Findings pinpoint limits of competition state theory in explaining contemporary labor migration policy. I demonstrate that semiotic and regulatory selectivity is a key remedy for coping with competing state projects and associated policy tensions. The political ordering of labor migration simultaneously entails amplification and silencing of competition state logics in policies.

Something is Better than Nothing: Enhancing the Protection of Indian Migrant Workers Through Bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding

India’s has had an impressive record recently in negotiating bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) on emigration of Indian workers, and social security agreements for Indian workers with a number of destination countries. The study undertakes a review of MOUs and MOAs on migration of Indian workers entered into by the Government of India with destination countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Jordan and Malaysia. The findings however, have broader relevance in the context of similar MOUs by other Asian origin countries.The study fails to find any concrete evidence that the MOUs and agreements on labour migration have contributed to improved governance of labour migration between India and concerned destination countries or significantly improve the protection of low-skilled Indian workers in the major destinations - the Gulf countries and Malaysia. The author argues that this is to be expected given that the MOUs contain only general provisions and leave out major issues of governance and protection. There has been no publicity and awareness creation on the MOUs signed, or any concrete follow on the provisions of MOUs after initial signing. The Joint Commissions proposed in the MOUs for monitoring and follow up of these agreements are virtually non-functional or non-existent. Above all, the lack of enforcement and monitoring mechanisms, and the continued predominant role of the private sector employers, and recruitment agencies and sponsors in hiring and control of workers mean that the MOUs have hardly any impact on the situation of the average low and semi-skilled Indian migrant worker. In all countries surveyed abuse and exploitation of Asian migrant workers including those from India has not changed. This should however, not imply that India is better off without MOUs. The existence of MOUs has a political value, and they have provided a firmer foundation for the country to build upon in this regard. In this sense, an agreement or MOU is better than a situation of no agreement or MOU. The author argues that the MOUs provide a broad framework, but that they need to be backed up by concrete initiatives in the areas of model employment contracts, strict workplace monitoring and enforcement of labour laws and regulations with adequate labour inspection procedures in place, dispute resolution mechanisms and mechanisms for access to justice by all migrant workers, and effective monitoring and regulation of recruitment agencies at both ends, and doing away with the sponsorship (‘Kafala’) system in GCC countries. While these may be harder to negotiate, they should nevertheless receive high priority if MOUs are to have any operational value in improving labour migration governance, and effectively protecting Indian migrant workers abroad. In this sense, multilateral and regional forums may serve as better platforms to move forward in these areas.

Management Versus Rights: Women's Migration and Global Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean

The global governance of labor migration reflects two major trends: one supports neoliberal migration management priorities and another addresses human rights, with the latter subordinated to the former. This subordination of human rights to other, market-related, priorities parallels global governance priorities in general. While some international organizations address the need for protection of migrant rights, their specific on-the-ground programs do not match the rhetoric. This study demonstrates this disconnection on the basis of an analysis of interviews with representatives of global governance institutions and international nongovernmental organizations conducted between 2007 and 2010 in the Latin American and Caribbean region and at the headquarters of relevant international organizations in Geneva. Furthermore, the study argues that because the discourse on migrant women's rights and their labor exploitation is framed predominantly in the context of trafficking, little headway is made in advancing migrant women's labor and social rights.