Editorial

Migration has been an integral part of human existence. Cultures and civilizations developed not in isolation but through constant interaction of movement of peoples. However, migration today is radically different; the magnitude of people migrating is unprecedented. This is what has been called the ‘age of migration’ (See Book Review: The Age of Migration, on page 30 of this issue). Never before have so many people left their native lands because of economic deprivation, dislocation by war, persecution or ecological catastrophes.

 

Among other factors, economic necessity is clearly the dominant factor in the migration of people and migrant labour in particular. This creates a huge challenge to national labour movements. Migrant labour is usually unorganized and often migrants are deemed ‘illegal’ making even attempts at organizing difficult. All of this provides a pool of easily exploitable labour, which is incapable of demanding their rights. Governments and companies often cooperate to further this situation. Magdalene Kong and Aziz Choudry in their articles in this issue, analyze how the neoliberal policies of governments facilitate migrant labour’s exploitation for the profit of global capitalists, and also examine the real and potential impacts of regional and international agreements such as ASEAN and GATS Mode 4, on furthering migration for work.

 

Among state-level discussions regarding migration, at the end of October 2008, there is the second Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to be held in the Philippines. It is the second occasion for a meeting of governments out of the auspices of the UN, which had begun these global forums with the ‘High Level Diaologue of the General Assembly on International Migration and Development’ in 2006; the first Global Forum outside the UN was in Brussels in 2007. While it aims to discuss and debate issues related to migration and migrant labour, civil society has been highly critical of the GFMD process. The article in this issue by Aaron Ceradoy elaborates some of the reasons some migrant groups feel it is a ‘sham’. It is argued that the official GFMD process which neither inclusive nor transparent, is incapable and unwilling to address structural issues of migration.

 

International migration under capitalism creates a working class in each national territory that is united by its shared experience of exploitation, but divided by race and nationality. This creates the potential for conflict within the working class. Local trade union movements with long history often have difficulty in adapting to rapid influx of migrants into the labour force, and regard migrants with mistrust and resentment. Only in varying degrees and often with ambivalence do domestic trade unions embrace the struggles of migrant workers and see themselves as fighting the same enemy together. This is reflected to some degree in the article by Wol-san Liem about the migrant worker struggle in South Korea.

 

Another division of workers which often fails to be recognized, which the globalized capitalist system both exacerbates and exploits, is division of work by sex. This is apparent in the migrant labour flows. A third to half of labour migrants in the Asian region are women, the great majority of whom work in a very narrow number of occupations, mainly domestic services or entertainment. Countries have increasingly been admitting migrants for temporary labour, with a greater portion occupied by women. Many women have also been ending up in the sex industry, which in some Southeast Asian countries account for a significant portion of GDP. The interview of Nop Sarin Sreyroth sheds some light on how organizations tackle the problems faced by women who migrate overseas for marriage or for sex work.

 

The relentless search for profit without regard to human cost is the hallmark of capitalism, and it is the engine driving informalization of labour as well as the massive flows of migration, both formal and undocumented. It is time for the Asian labour movement to join hands in solidarity and support of migrants to ensure their rights as workers irrespective of their nationality, race, religion or colour; and to struggle as one against the policies and paradigms that exploit labour.