DUSHANBE, March 1, 2016, Asia-Plus — Migrants from countries across Asia and the Pacific play a key role as development actors, helping drive GDP growth in their countries of destination while also supporting families and communities in their countries of origin, but the benefits of migration remain under-acknowledged, according to a new United Nations report,
The Asia-Pacific Migration Report 2015: Migrants’ Contributions to Development
, which was released on February 29.
Drawing on evidence gathered from across the region, the Report finds that
over 95 million people from Asia and Pacific countries lived outside their
countries of birth, and that the region hosted over 59 million migrants.
While there are many reasons to migrate, the majority of these migrants are temporary migrant workers. The Asia-Pacific region reportedly also hosts over 5.5 million refugees, and three of the main refugee-hosting countries in the world are in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Report shows that many migrant workers not only benefit from their migration, but they also contribute to the development of their countries of origin and destination through their work and the remittances they send home. However, migrants also face hardships and abuse, so action needs to be taken to maximize these benefits by ensuring that migration is orderly, safe, regular and responsible.
The Report provides guidance on the steps countries, regional organizations, civil society actors and others can take to improve positive impacts, notably through securing the rights of migrants and ensuring their access to social protection and decent work, both through national policies and multilateral dialogue and cooperation.
The Report, in particular, notes that the World Bank estimates that 40 percent of the working-age population of Tajikistan migrated for employment, mostly to the Russian Federation, where 60 per cent work in an irregular status.
While the number of Tajik nationals working in the Russian Federation averaged 740,000 during the period 2011–2014, in 2014 the number was 670,000. That number is expected to decline by another 25 per cent in 2015 and those remaining in the Russian Federation will face the prospect of reduced wages as issues such as the depreciation of the ruble and the increased cost of patents may reduce the attractiveness of the Russian Federation as a country of destination, the report says
.
The Asia-Pacific Migration Report 2015: Migrants’ Contributions to Development
is the result of a collaborative effort of the members of the Regional Thematic Working Group on International Migration, including Human Trafficking, namely: ESCAP, IOM, ILO, OCHA, OHCHR, UNAIDS, UN-ACT, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UN Women, WHO and the World Bank. The group is currently co-chaired by ESCAP and IOM.
