Labour Migration & Socio-Economic Change

The aim of 'Labour Migration and Socio-Economic Change' was to bring together a number of European and Asian scholars who are working on labour migration at different levels of analysis and to explore the commonalities and diversities of structures and experiences of migration within a historical and comparative framework.

* By NICOLA PIPER & RATNA SAPTARI

Quite specifically because Southeast and East Asia include some of the most dynamic but also volatile economies in Asia, these regions received exclusive attention in our workshop.

Many of the papers looked at magnitude and trends in migration patterns, be they local or regional. These migration patterns are influenced by a combination of macro- and micro- factors, and by political and economic transformations in sending and receiving countries. In general, labour migration (whether rural-rural, rural-urban, or urban-rural) is a reflection of inequalities between different areas within a nation-state, or between different countries. To a high degree, political and social conjunctures have influenced which categories of workers will move out of certain jobs and which will move in. It was interesting indeed to gather from certain presentations how, as Taiwanese workers are moving out of local labour markets (or moving up), Filipino, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Vietnamese workers are filling these slots. Similarly, as Thai workers go out to East Asia, Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, and Burmese migrants are filling some of the positions the Thai workers vacated.

The movement of labour has also shifted throughout the decades. Many Southeast Asian migrants (as did South Asian) originally moved to the oil-rich countries of the Middle East to find better earning jobs. With segments of the labour market in the Middle East closing up and with increasing protest from the migrants' own civil societies against their harsh treatment, new migrants have shifted to East Asia. This, for instance, has been the case with Thai and Indonesian workers.

In addition, the flow of migrant workers into a country frequently challenges the position of local workers, as was evidently the case in South Sumatra (Indonesia). In Taiwan, as well, Taiwanese workers gradually but surely felt threatened by the presence and continued entry of foreign workers and started to organize against their recruitment into the labour force. In both Vietnam and Taiwan, upland 'tribal' communities are feeling threatened by the migration of people from other parts of the country in search of land. As far as Thailand goes, however, it was argued that the immigration of workers from Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, to a certain extent, allowed the outflow of Thai workers to other countries.

The history of migration within a given area may, to a certain degree, influence the intensity and pattern of migration in the contemporary period, as shown by a case study of two Chinese villages (inland and coastal). This, however, does not predetermine the nature of migration patterns. Also, for Nepalese workers migrating to Southeast Asia, the history of Nepalese gurkhas cannot be said to have determined the kinds of jobs Nepalese workers entered or the countries they chose, yet the links between the past and the present are significant beyond a doubt.

State regulation

With or without state intervention, migration has occurred throughout history. Governments, no less, have played a large role in either the encouragement or prohibition of in- and out-migration. In post-Communist countries, where migration has been strongly controlled and regulated with the allocation of residence and permits, policies are presently changing. Now, even China and Vietnam encourage the movement of people in various areas and in a slightly more tempered fashion. Legalization of illegal workers, giving migrants permits to move from one place to another, and the provision of visa offices all provide clear evidence of this shift. In the capitalist societies of Southeast Asia, state intervention has gone so far as to establish government agencies to regulate the private brokers who operate both in receiving and sending countries.

By supporting out-migration, the state accrues benefits both in terms of revenues and a reduction of the mounting pressure on the state to provide employment in the face of population growth and income inequality. Yet at the same time it creates new problems when large scale violations and exploitation occurs and pressure comes from the international community and undermines bilateral relations between countries. In particular, ambivalence of governments towards patrolling the borders emerge from this dilemma, a situation that migrants themselves and the civil society at large often make use of in creative ways. Similar dilemmas are felt by receiving countries.

Migrant workers' identities

Many of the papers emphasized that immigrants sustain multi-stranded social relations, which allow them to be classified as 'transnationals'. The fact that migrants are more often than not 'permanently temporary' also implies that their identities may change as they move back and forth between their locations of origin and locations of destination. A poignant example is the case of the Korean Chinese (or Chinese Koreans) who move back and forth between China and Korea, their class position moving up and down accordingly and their cultural identity shifting to and fro. Likewise, Southeast Asian workers, though at the bottom rung in the Middle East or in East Asia, come back with a higher status and more autonomy in making decisions. On the other hand, cultural boundaries become more strongly defined as foreigners move into a community. These differences then, can be augmented by culture, race, ethnicity, or language.

Migrant workers' remittances
Various patterns were shown in the use of remittances. Although closely related, a distinction was made between the impact on the local economy, the households, and the position of the migrants themselves as they return home. In some cases, remittances had no effect on the development of the area, as brokers often swallow these remittance, or the money merely intensifies the shift away from agriculture. Yet, in other cases, the link can be seen as money used to pay debts, to build houses, to conduct local rituals, and, to a small degree, to invest further.

Unfortunately, analysis of community and household dynamics were not available to show clearly which groups benefited from these remittances and which were deprived. Perhaps these figures will be available in the future. *

This conference was sponsored by the Asia Committee of the ESF and jointly organized by the IIAS Changing Labour Relations in Asia Programme (CLARA), the Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies at Lund University, Sweden, and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) in Copenhagen, Denmark.