The International Labour Organization (ILO) jointly with Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published 2024 edition of Labor Migration in Asia report.
The report "Labor Migration in Asia: Trends, skills certification, and seasonal work" highlights key aspects of labour migration in Asia, reflecting on disaggregated data on worker outflows from 13 major countries of origin with specific focus on skills dimension of the out-bound workers. This analysis has compared the outflows of migrant workers from last 12 years and emphasized the phenomena of pre- and post-COVID 19 on labour migration.
© ADBI-OECD-ILO joint publication
Among the 13 countries of origin from Asia presented in the report, Nepal recorded the highest increase in outflow migration compared to 2019. The report notes that the number of workers going abroad from Nepal increased by 102% in 2019-2023 period. This is the highest increase among the 13 Asian countries compared.
Malaysia was the most popular country of destination with 219,357 Nepali migrant workers going there in 2023, whereas UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the top three destinations among the countries under Gulf Cooperation Council. There is a significant increase in the number of Nepali workers going to Europe. Romania, Croatia, Malta and Poland were the most popular destinations which received more than 30,000 Nepali workers in total in 2022/2023 fiscal year.
Referring to the report, Numan Özcan, Director, ILO Country Office for Nepal states, "The report positions very well the context of labour migration from Nepal in the broader scenario of labour migration in Asia and the Pacific region. This report will be very useful for researchers, academia, policy makers and development partners engaged directly or indirectly in the labour migration issues in Nepal either for policy or practical interventions." He further adds, "The report provides a good opportunity for Nepal to learn from different practices and schemes and guide its actions towards skills development and certification of Nepali migrant workers, diversification of labour markets through enhanced skills, and reducing vulnerabilities and better governance while exploring opportunities in emerging labour markets for seasonal migrant workers."
The first chapter provides an intriguing analysis of the skills dimension of outgoing migrant workers where scenario of six origin countries including Nepal has been presented. The report has indicated more diverse skills categories of the workers from The Philippines going abroad while Nepali migrant workers are classified into three categories. Notably, the report highlights an increasing number of 'Skilled' Nepali migrant workers going abroad followed by 'Elementary' and 'Semi-skilled' categories.
© Basanta Karki/ILO
Another significant fact presented by the report is the remittance inflows between 2021-2023. South Asia is the largest remittance receiving sub-region in Asia and the Pacific, accounting for 39 percent of the total remittance received by the region. Similarly, Nepal ranks fourth among countries receiving highest remittances in percentage compared to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with Tajikistan, Tonga and Samoa holding top three ranks respectively.
This chapter has concluded the future scenario of labour migration in Asia: "The prospects for labour migration in Asia suggest that, barring major geopolitical or health disruptions, increased movement will occur in the next few years, as channels to new destinations open as labour markets tighten and skill needs climb".
The second chapter of the report showcases the provisions of middle-skilled labour migration in the construction sector based on pathways and skills certification of migrant workers in Singapore and Thailand. It highlights different mechanisms of permitting migrant workers in Thailand and Singapore based on the skills level. It also underlines skills development and certification initiatives carried out by some of the origin countries targeting the labour markets of Singapore and Thailand together with some bilateral arrangement between few countries of origin.
Finally, the third chapter presents rapidly evolving labour markets for the seasonal migrant workers from the Asia and the Pacific region in New Zealand, Australia, Republic of Korea, Japan and United Kingdom. This chapter elaborates different schemes introduced by those five destination countries to recruit and deploy seasonal migrant workers from different Asian and the Pacific source countries. The most important part of the chapter is the analysis of policy challenges of such schemes that may undermine labour and human rights of seasonal migrant workers entering into those labour markets. The report reveals vulnerability of workers, oversight and compliance, bilateral relationship and management by origin countries as key policy challenges.
