Lausanne World Pulse – Perspectives Articles – Migrant Workers: The Responsive Wave

By Bryan Galloway and Jessie Rushing
Despite measurement difficulties, undocumented (illegal) migrant workers are clearly significant in many countries. The following table provides rounded estimates of undocumented migrant workers in selected countries in the early 2000s:

TABLE 2: Number of Undocumented Migrant Workers in Selected Asia Pacific Countries

Country	Number	Source of Information
Korea	186,000	Asian Migration News, 31 December 2004
Japan	600,000	Tigno 1997
Thailand	1,500,000	Chalamwong 2005
Malaysia	1,200,000	Asian Labor News, 17 December 2004
Singapore	35,000	Battistella 2002
Australia	27,000	DIMIA 2003

The majority of migrant workers are involved in infrastructure development (i.e. construction, building roads, etc.) and service occupations (i.e. gas station attendants, restaurant servers, etc.). Trends show female migrant workers moving into domestic services (i.e. maids, nannies, etc.). Clearly, women dominate the majority of migrant workers sent from the Philippines and Indonesia. Probably twenty percent of Asia Pacific migrant workers are women in domestic services. The following table provides data of selected Asia Pacific countries sending women as migrant workers:

TABLE 3: Selected Asia Pacific Countries Sending Women Migrant Workers

Country of Origin	Year	Workers Sent	Source of Information
Philippines	2003	652,000	POEA 2004
Thailand	2003	148,000	Chalamwong 2005
Indonesia	2003	294,000	Soeprobo 2005

Why a Wave of Migrant Workers?
There are many reasons (including the traditional push–pull factors) why there is a wave of migrant workers. Economic theory suggests an individual will migrate when the benefits of the push–pull factors outweigh the costs. Philip Martin contends, “Factors fueling migration include uneven population and economic growth (labor shortages in some countries; labor surpluses in others), cultural changes that affect the availability and expectations of workers, and the existence of well-established legal recruitment networks (and the smuggling of laborers).”⁶

Many Asia Pacific countries depend upon migrant workers to supplement their indigenous workforce if economic growth targets are to be achieved and if they are to maintain their international competitiveness and strategic position globally. For several countries, the migrant labor force (both skilled and unskilled) is a key to their economies. In Australia, New Zealand and Singapore migrant workers account for more than twenty percent of the labor force.⁷ Malaysia is not far behind where migrants make up about seventeen percent of the work force.⁸ For those countries that export many workers, the money they receive from the host countries is a key to their economies.

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Bryan Galloway (left) has served in roles such as church planter and regional administrator in cross-cultural missions for twenty years with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Church. For the past eight years, he has served as the regional research coordinator for the IMB-SBC Pacific Rim region. Jessie Rushing (right) has been a missionary associate in the Pacific Rim region since 2000. He is involved in ethnographic research on unreached people groups of the region. He is also part of a church planting/evangelization team working among ethnic Chinese.