1. Enhancing Labor Migration Management in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Training Program on
Enhancing Labor Migration Management in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

2. Module 1: Understanding Migration
1a. Types of Migration
1b. Migration Response in ASEAN and GMS MoU
1c. Migration and Development
1d. Migration Trends and Patterns
1e. Mapping Migration within the GMS
This module guides participants by going through the steps of migration concepts which are broken down into fundamental elements of migration: types of migration, migration response in ASEAN and GMS, Migration and Development and Migration Trends and Patterns.
Having this understanding, the latter session provides migration into the context of ASEAN region and further to the GMS, where participants are from. The session poses guiding questions in leading participants to analyze migration from the GMS framework while considering broader global governance structure. Participants have a chance to examine, through discussions, bilateral labour arrangements, including Memorandum of Understandings which frames labour mobility in the subregion reflecting ILO’s principle elements of bilateral agreements.
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

3. 1d. Migration Trends and Patterns 1e.Mapping Migration within the GMS
Module 1: Understanding Migration
1d. Migration Trends and Patterns 1e.Mapping Migration within the GMS
26 November to 1 December 2012 at Mekong Institute in Khon Kaen, Thailand
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4. Learning Objectives 1d and e
Having deepened understandings of principle elements of International Migration and link topics of migrations into economic and social development, participants are able to:
Analyse the trends and its patterns from broader social and economic aspects of the subregion.
By the end of the session, the participants will:
This module guides participants by going through the steps of migration concepts which are broken down into fundamental elements of migration: types of migration, migration response in ASEAN and GMS, Migration and Development and Migration Trends and Patterns.
Having this understanding, the latter session provides migration into the context of ASEAN region and further to the GMS, where participants are from. The session poses guiding questions in leading participants to analyze migration from the GMS framework while considering broader global governance structure. Participants have a chance to examine, through discussions, bilateral labour arrangements, including Memorandum of Understandings which frames labour mobility in the subregion reflecting ILO’s principle elements of bilateral agreements.
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

5. 1d. Migration Trends and Patterns
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6. Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012
GMS is a single, though composite, economic entity linking less developed countries to stronger ones.
Migration is driven by uneven development patterns, demographic parameters and existing regional links
Migration is facilitated by governance issues, political factors, porosity of the borders with overlapping populations
Interdependent forms of intra-GMS labour migration: international, internal, border mobility
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

7. Overview of intra-GMS migration
3-5 mil. in the region; more than 60% in Thailand – difficult to estimate due to high irregular migration
Mostly low-skilled (agriculture, fisheries, construction, domestic work); tradesmen from Viet Nam
Limited data makes it difficult to analyze
High levels of irregular migration  expensive, difficult
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

8. Border Mobility New concept introduced in this paper
Directly results from the creation of GMS corridors and dynamic border check points. Related to formal and informal trade
At the interface between internal and international migration
Border towns become trading centres attracting migrants from bordering countries
Hardly quantifiable, as mainly informal
Evolves very quickly: slums and vulnerability
Opportunities: skills acquisition, further international migration
Border mobility is people’s movement from and within countries to the border areas.
It is a concept which is new in the academic field of labour migration and was introduced in this report.
The important part is the role of border migrants in the urbanization of border towns along the corridors, and the fact that these border towns are actually paired on both sides of the border.
Border checkpoints became very important economic zones, in which trade, formal as well as informal, is very dynamic. Daily migrant workers are now in great number, and traditional migrant networks acknowledged this opportunity to specialize.
Cities along the economic corridors, especially these, as Khon Kaen, that are at the crossroads of corridors, became economically very active, therefore influencing the labour market.
Trade networks, formal as well as informal, create around the checkpoints, which are nodes in the subregional trade.
Informal trade is estimated representing 20-30% of trade  migration follows
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

9. Internal migration
Most of GMS migration is internal
Drivers: urbanization, emergence of service sectors, urban-rural divide
Rural-urban: Thailand, Viet Nam and GMS provinces of PRC particularly prevalent, as well as Lao PDR
Rural-urban migration creates rural labour shortage, and ageing of rural population, eventually attracting international migrants
Cambodia: rural-rural migration predominant; in Myanmar urban-rural migration coexists with rural urban (“pioneer fronts”)
Internal migrants are vulnerable, as they often lose social protection
Remittances
Emergence of urban middle class drives the emergence of service sectors filled by rural-urban migrants (case of Bangkok)
In thailand, households in northeast depending on remittances rose from 5% in 1986 to 24% in 2004; rural households with migrants experienced, between 2008 and 2012, an income growth 17 to 22% higher than other households.
Thai economic miracle ( ): increased rural-urban migration and thus change in rural economic profile. Migration brought to ageing rural populations while poverty reduced drastically (from 25% in 1980s to 10% in 2008). Mechanization decreased the need for manpower, but still migration increased it  seasonal international migration
Vietnam: net migration rate in Ho Chi Minh was at 116% in 2009
Yunnan and Guanxi: from 1982 to 2012 urban population increased from 13.9 to 34% and to 39.2% respectively.
Lao PDR: in % of the population had already migrated outside their province. Urban growth between 2005 and 2010: 5.6%; national average: 1.8%; rural 0.1%
Household booklets  vulnerability of the internal migrants who lose their social security (Vietnam, Thailand, PRC)
Cambodia: internal migration=97% of total migration; rural urban= 27.5% while rural-rural= 51%
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10. Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012
Extra-GMS migration
Magnitude comparable to intra-GMS
Mainly concerns Thailand and Viet Nam
Predominantly within Asia, but also towards Middle East, Africa, Europe and USA
PRC, Thailand and Viet Nam have labour export programmes
Mainly male migration
Issues: recruitment process
Labour migration does not only happen within GMS, but there are quite a large numbers of labour migration happening to outside of the subregion. And this can be also expanded as the ASEAN economic reintegration progresses.
In Thailand, 160,000 outgoing migrants were observed yearly until 2009 and then went down to 140,000 yearly afterwords. Viet Nam sent over 500,000 migrants between 2005 and 2012
16% of extra-GMS migrants are women (household and commercial service sectors)
The problem of this process is huge migration costs. Particularly expenses and maltreatment of migrants through unlicensed/subcontracting agencies particularly in rural areas vulnerability is problematic.
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

11. 1e.Mapping Migration within the GMS
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012 

13. Sending Country
Receiving Country

14. Sending Country
Receiving Country

15. THAILAND 2,553,000 CAMBODIA 1,048,000 MYANMAR 125,000 LAOS 118,000
Migration stock in GMS
CHINA
47,000
MYANMAR
125,000
LAOS
118,000
VIETNAM
27,000
THAILAND
2,553,000
CAMBODIA
1,048,000
Source: Lewis, Daniel Ray, Nuarpear Lekfuangfu, Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, Federico Soda, and Claudia Natali. Forecasting Migration Flows: The Relationships among Economic Development, Demographic Change and Migration in the Greater Mekong Subregion

16. Thank you!
Yuko Hamada
Senior Labour Migration/Migration and Development Specialist
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Copyright© International Organization for Migration 2012