International labour migration in the age of globalisation: The example ofSoutheast Asia

In the last three decades Southeast Asia has experienced an enormous extent of demographic, economic and social change, and especially international l abour migration has become one of the most important factors in this transf ormation process. It is not surprising, therefore, that labour migration an d the employment of foreign workers have recently become key issues on the political agendas of the nation states in the region, as well as the focus of an increasingly hostile public opinion. This paper tl ies to analyse the emergence of Southeast Asia as a distinct, regionally based, migrant-labou r system and its causes. The present system of labour migration in Southeas t Asia is considered mainly as the outcome of several subsequent phases of the globalisation process, which stal ted in Southeast Asia as early as in the second half of the nineteenth century. The second focus of the paper is an analysis of the volume, the spatial pattern, and the various forms of i nternational labour migration in contemporary Southeast Asia (including und ocumented migration and trafficking), using the most recent statistical dat a available. Finally the question is discussed to what extent the "Asian Cr isis", which started in 1997, has influenced the volume and direction of la bour migration flows within the region and its effects on the national migr ation policies.