Migrant Workers in Asia Pacific and Their Rights to Health

The movement of human populations from place to place has been a part of human history since time immemorial, within and between countries. There are also large numbers of people who have been forced from their homes by insecurity, famine, and ethnic and religious pressures. Each group presents public health issues, which as the numbers increase, present escalating challenges. The Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) is concerned about health access and equity for all, including the most disadvantaged groups such as refugees.1 A joint OECD and United Nations study estimated that there are 232 million international migrants living in a country other than their own has remained relatively stable in the past decades at 3.2% of the world’s population.2,3 The Asia-Pacific region contains 3 of the 4 world’s most populous nations, China, India, and Indonesia, which are also major sources of migrants. In 2010, there were 27.5 million international migrants in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, which has both major migrant countries of origin such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as destination countries for migrants such as Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China, which have labor shortages and offer higher wage opportunities.4 By 2013, the International Labour Organization estimated that there were 30 million migrant workers in the region, with women making up 42% of migrants in Asia and 50% in Oceania.4-6 These workers leave their countries to seek for better economic prospects in order to improve their families’ livelihoods as documented or undocumented migrants. In the Asia-Pacific region, a significant proportion of migration is irregular and undocumented. In Thailand, approximately 3.1 million migrants are from the neighboring countries of Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos and half of them are unregistered. In 2010, Indonesians accounted for half of the 1.8 million registered migrants in Malaysia and it is estimated that the number who are undocumented is about the same.6 Migration of labor makes a major contribution to the economy and in the Philippines, the region’s largest labor-sending country, remittance inflows accounted for 12.2% of GDP in 2009, while they reached 22% in Nepal.4 In the Asia-Pacific region, economic change has also led to massive internal migration and in China there were 211 million migrants driving rapid urbanization and creating many public health issues.7 Internal migrants may not have access to the same health services as them would in their home towns and may have higher rates of infectious diseases.8 The mobility of students and retirees and, increasing international marriages are also important trends in the region. Migration of highly skilled professionals and wealthy citizens to Western Countries continues and often deprives the country that provided their education of much needed professional skills.