Singapore And Immigration

The importance of migrants to any economy cannot be overstated. Southeast Asian countries are certainly no exception to this rule. In this week’s article we will be discussing Southeast Asian labour migration trends.

More specifically, we will be discussing labour migration statistics and demographics, reasons for migration, destinations for migration, the importance of migration, and the impact of COVID on migration.

Background

According to UNESCAP, there were approximately 18 million migrants from Southeast Asia in Southeast Asia in 2020. The Migration Data Portal adds that about half of these migrants are women. This is not surprising. Many migrants in Southeast Asia tend to be informal domestic workers who are overwhelmingly female.

The age of many of these migrants vary greatly on the jobs they take on. The aforementioned female domestic workers tend to be relatively young, while male migrants, who take on more labour-intensive jobs, tend to be older, as evidenced by relevant remittance data.

Reasons for Migration

Remittance, aka funds sent from abroad to provide for familial expenses back home, are arguably the biggest motivation behind migration in Southeast Asia. To put into perspective the significance of remittances in the region, UNSECAP wrote that in 2019 alone Southeast Asia received USD 77 billion in remittances.

Therefore the majority of migration in Southeast Asia is categorically labour migration. Of course, political instability is another motivation. The Rohingya Crisis and the coup d’etat in Myanmar, as well as the recently resolved insurgency in the Southern Philippines, are but a few examples.

However, Relief Web stresses, climate change is becoming an increasingly prevalent reason for migration in Southeast Asia. The number of natural disasters, of which the majority brought about by climate change-related factors, in Southeast Asia have occurred more frequently. The same is true for climate change-related food crises and water crises.

Destinations for Migration

According to UNESCAP, “There are over 18 million migrant workers outside their country of origin in South-East Asia [in 2020], with the highest numbers from the Philippines (5.4 million), Indonesia (2.9 million), Myanmar (2.6 million) and Viet Nam (2.6 million).” 

However, the Migration Data Portal adds that most migrants from Southeast Asia in general stay in the Southeast Asian region and East Asian region. Of course, North America, Europe, and Western Asia are also important destinations, and the Southeast Asian diaspora in these respective regions are quite sizeable.

Importance of Migration

Migrants diversify the labour force, help account for skills gaps, drive consumption, and help generate economic activity in general. However, migrants are especially important to specific countries for varying reasons.

For Singapore, migrants are important in that they help account for labour shortages brought on by the relatively small population and therefore the limited population growth, writes the Association for Asian Studies.

As such, Singapore has put in place policies to attract “Foreign Talents” (high-skilled university-education workers from abroad) and “Foreign Workers” (low-skilled, labour-intensive workers from abroad) to account for labour shortages. 

Impact of COVID-19

UNESCAP writes that “Large numbers of migrants are expected to return to their home countries because of the effects of the pandemic, with estimates of up to 500,000 returning to the Philippines alone in 2020. This will compound the effect of lack of remittances and increase the unemployment burden at national levels.”

“Returning migrants who have yet to pay off their debts to recruiting agents or money lenders will be particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse and will be among those most in need of services and support.”  This latter is especially important given the aforementioned fact that most migrants are in the informal sector.

Conclusion

Migrants are a net positive to any economy. They are an important part of most economies, including the economies of Southeast Asia.Migrants, regardless of their reasons for migrating, are present in most Southeast Asian countries and are even key to sophisticated and advanced economies such as Singapore. Though, migration has proven more difficult following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kusu believes it is important to consider the local labour force’s skills, demographics, and sustainability prior to expanding production anywhere. Kusu is ready to help you and your company should you be interested in expanding production to Southeast Asia.