CHANGING GOVERNANCE IN POPULATION MIGRATION: THEORIES AND PRACTICES IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

This article surveys the shift in migration governance across South and Southeast Asia from narrow control to broader management, linking labour-market needs, migrant rights and development outcomes. It synthesises theoretical lenses—push-pull, new economics of labour migration, migration-systems theory and rights-based approaches—and situates them within the region’s recruitment chains and bilateral agreements. The paper analyses how fees, intermediaries and information asymmetries create debt burdens and vulnerability, and how destination-country regulations on contracts, skill recognition and dispute resolution shape outcomes. It also reviews portability of social protection, remittance costs, and reintegration programmes. Case illustrations show how governance innovations—ethical recruitment standards, digital contracts, skills passports and grievance hotlines—reduce exploitation while aligning flows with domestic human-capital strategies. The argument is that effective governance requires trilateral coordination: origin states, destination states and private recruiters accountable under transparent, enforceable rules.

The main text begins by mapping corridors from Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka to Malaysia and the Gulf, highlighting recruitment processes and typical cost structures. Section One evaluates legal frameworks and MOUs, noting gaps in contract enforcement and access to justice abroad. Section Two explores market instruments: licensing, performance bonds and insurance that can discipline recruiters and protect migrants, alongside fintech tools lowering remittance costs. Section Three examines skills policy—competency standards, testing and recognition—that better match workers to jobs and improve bargaining power. Section Four assesses welfare architecture at destinations—labour inspections, housing rules and dispute mechanisms—identifying where community organisations fill state capacity gaps. Section Five turns to return and reintegration: certification of skills acquired abroad, support for entrepreneurship and psychosocial services. The conclusion proposes a governance scorecard and a corridor-level dashboard of complaints, costs and outcomes to drive accountability and continuous improvement.