Migration governance in East and Southeast Asia

Abstract This article explains migration governance in East and Southeast Asia by comparing guestworker programs that have institutionalized labor migration flows between Southeast Asian countries (especially Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) and the two largest Northeast Asian recipients of labor migration, Japan and South Korea. It demonstrates how these programs have led to heightened competition for skilled labor between countries of destination, while facilitating greater migration flows between countries in Southeast and Northeast Asia. Bilateral economic agreements have engendered highly uneven, underdeveloped frameworks for protecting migrant rights and facilitating migrant integration in countries of destination. The analysis also provides insights into theories of complex interdependence and global migration governance, and shows how migration interdependence (MI) can lead to both cooperation and conflict.