Cambodian workers are pictured at Aranyaprathet railway station in Sa Kaeo province, June 2014. (Photo: Bangkok Post/Thanarak Khunton)Hanoi, (VNA) - Thailand, Malaysiaand Singapore have become top destinations for migrant workers from other ASEANmember states, a World Bank report said on October 9.
Entitled "Migrating toOpportunity", the report showed a significant increase in the bloc’sintra-regional migration between 1995 and 2015, which turned the threecountries into regional migration hubs with 6.5 million migrants or 96 percentof total migrant workers in ASEAN.
Thailand hosted 3.75 million ASEAN migrantsfrom Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia; Malaysia had 1.48 million mostly fromIndonesia and Myanmar; and Singapore had 1.28 million mainly from Malaysia andIndonesia.
According to the report, ASEAN migrants areoften low-skilled and undocumented who are compelled to move in search ofeconomic opportunity, mainly in the construction, plantation, and domesticservices sectors. Higher-salary jobs are available, yet workers are not alwaysable to take advantage of these opportunities.
The ASEAN Economic Community has taken stepsto facilitate mobility, but these regulations only cover skilled professions –doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers, architects, accountants, and tourismprofessionals – or just five percent of jobs in the region, it added.
"With the right policy choices, sendingcountries can reap the economic benefits of out-migration while protectingtheir citizens who choose to migrate for work," Sudhir Shetty, World Bankchief economist for the East Asia and Pacific region, said in a press release.
"In receiving countries, foreignworkers can fill labour shortages and promote sustained economic growth, ifmigration policies are aligned with their economic needs. Inappropriatepolicies and ineffective institutions mean that the region is missingopportunities to gain fully from migration," he said.-VNA
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