National governance in international labour migration

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Abstract
International labour migration is increasingly perceived as a global governance issue although national governance structures are and will remain much more dominant in driving and executing policy. In the end, it is the national governance which determines the size, scope and quality of a country’s migration management mechanisms as well as the level of participation solicited from different stakeholders. Good international labour migration governance requires cohesive legislation, policies, implementation, enforcement and institutional frameworks supported by national governments and focused on creating competitive as well as fair labour migration conditions beneficial to the labour-receiving country, the labour-sending country, and the migrant him or herself. This paper examines the current and potential role of national governance structures within the complex Asian international labour migration market. The focus is on temporary low-skilled Asian labour migration to Middle Eastern countries as well as to high/middle income countries within Asia. This paper scrutinizes the challenges and gaps which exist between national domestic policies and the implementation of foreign employment policies. It also reviews how governments in the countries of origin could play a more significant role in improving migration management by focusing on longer-term developmental benefits. Strengthening national governance in countries of origin is key to more effective migration governance. Doing this will bring tangible and critically important benefits to the migrants and their communities. Global governance can be a tool to strengthen national governance by setting international standards and benchmarks from which country level initiatives could be measured. Currently, the benefits from international labour migration rest more so with the labour-receiving countries that with the countries of origin and the communities migrants leave under the pretext of supporting. While the support does exist and remittances can be quantifiably measured in financial terms, the endemic poverty levels and lack of opportunity in places or origin remain even after generations of community members have become international labour migrants.

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