The UN Regional Thematic Working Group on International Migration,
including Human Trafficking, yesterday launched a major new report
identifying migration trends in 16 Asian countries and assessing
their socio-economic impact.

The Group, which is co-chaired by ESCAP – the UN Economic
and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific – and IOM,
is composed of IOM and UN agencies in the ESCAP region.

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"border-style: none; background-image: none; vertical-align: top; width: 100%; background-color: rgb(51, 102, 204); text-align: left;">Download "border-style: none; background-image: none; vertical-align: top; width: 100%; background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255); text-align: left;">

"/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/brochures_and_info_sheets/iom_situation_report.pdf"
linkindex="77" set="yes" target="_blank" title=""> "background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255);">International Migration in
East and South-East Asia

Published amid growing recognition that international migration is
a key contributor to the UN's Millennium Development Goals one week
before the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila, the
Situation Report on International Migration in East and South-East
Asia examines the inward and outward migration of individual Asian
nations.

It also addresses migration-related themes including policy
development, labour migration, remittances, gender, health,
children and the implications of international migration for
indigenous peoples.

It points to economic disparities between countries in East and
South-East Asia as the main driver behind international migration
and calls on governments to introduce more coherent migration
policies involving countries of origin and destination, as well as
regional cooperation.

It notes that better financial infrastructures are needed to
optimize the development impact of the over USD 50 billion of
remittances that the region receives each year from migrant workers
abroad.

Governments should also address irregular migration and the
conditions which promote it – remedying the lack of jobs and
the lack of opportunities for regular, safe migration. Public
awareness of the risks of irregular migration, including
exploitation, abuse and human trafficking, also needs to be
promoted by governments and the media, it says.

The report calls for an intensification of efforts to promote
the full potential and dignity of migrants through improved
oversight of the recruitment industry and says that countries of
origin with a large number of women migrant workers abroad should
also introduce gender sensitive measures to protect them, without
limiting their migration opportunities.

The situation of children who either migrate with their parents
or are left behind with a single parent or relatives is also
addressed. The report calls on governments to better protect and
assist child migrants and to introduce more systematic and
comprehensive approaches to identifying victims of human
trafficking.

Finally it notes that in order to fully incorporate
international migration into national development planning and
policy making, governments in the region will have to compile much
more comprehensive migration data.

The 230-page report can be downloaded from the IOM website
at:

"/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/brochures_and_info_sheets/iom_situation_report.pdf">http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/

brochures_and_info_sheets/iom_situation_report.pdf

For more information please contact:

Chris Lom

IOM's Regional Office for Southeast Asia

Bangkok

Tel: +66.8.19275215

Email: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int