The ‘rights’ of temporary labour migrants in Asian states.

This article considers the struggles faced by Asian states in their attempts to recruit mostly low-skilled temporary labour migrants. The article observes three trends: (1) there is a marked reluctance to admit low-skilled migrants into many Asian states, even where they are clearly needed; (2) where they are admitted, there is an associated marked reluctance to grant them an expansive set of rights, including in particular a path to citizenship; and (3) there continues to be a concern to protect the cultural basis of the nation, which serves as justification for both the reluctance to admit migrant workers and the reluctance to extend them rights. As a result of these three trends, two observations can be made. First, the presence of increasing numbers of both high- and low-skilled migrants may force Asian states to reconsider their reliance on ethno-national self-definitions. Second, however, to the extent that this reconsideration is already transpiring, it is not yet easily translating into more and better rights for, especially, low-skilled migrants, in particular with respect to the rights associated with citizenship status. The worry that migrants threaten social cohesion in Asian states, by sullying the national ‘brand’, prevails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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