30 January 2013 - Bangkok Post. High wages in Thailand are likely to keep the majority of Myanmar migrant workers here over the next three years, a labour researcher says. While Myanmar is currently taking steps toward democratisation and a freer market, finding good jobs there remains difficult, Premjai Wangsiripaisarn of the Asian Research Centre for Migration at Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Asian Studies said.
30 January 2013 - The Guardian. Money transfers from workers abroad to family back home have tripled in a decade and are three times larger than global aid budgets.
29 January 2013 - Huffington Post. Labor activists say the fierce imbalance between the elite and the laboring underclass is headed for catastrophe as the country prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
29 January 2013 - Jakarta Post/Asia News Network. Eighty two Indonesian women helped by the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to return home arrived in Jakarta on Monday. They are some of a total 104 migrant workers released in a mission led by the Malaysian Police and the Immigration Office.
28 January 2013 - The National, UAE. The UAE’s efforts to increase political participation, empower women and safeguard the rights of migrant workers will be detailed at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council today.
28 January 2013 - The United Nations is in the process of preparing its 2013 World Youth Report on Youth Migration and Development. The report will offer a multidimensional account and/or perspective of the life experiences of young migrants and young people affected by migration.
28 January 2013 - Bangkok Post. Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap has backed an idea to import Bangladeshi labourers to work in the fishery industry.
24 January 2013 - Daily News, Sri Lanka. Central Bank statistics revealed the remittance from Sri Lankan migrant workers exceeded US$ 6 billion in 2012, Institute of Policy Studies founder member and chairman Prof W D Lakshman said. "Migrant workers play a significant role in the country's social and economic development," he said.
23 January 2013 - Evertiq.com. The life of a migrant worker in Malaysia
Malaysia is currently the main destination for migrant workers in South-East Asia. Since 2000, immigration into the country has been growing, with the migrant population rising from 850'000 in 2000 to the current estimated 2 million documented and another estimated 2 million undocumented migrants.
23 January 2013 - BBC News. An investigation by the BBC has revealed that Thai officials have been selling boat people from Burma to human traffickers.
22 January 2013 - Jakarta Globe. Legislators have urged Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar to crack down on officials who extort illegal fees from migrant workers returning from overseas.
21 January 2013 - The Himalayan Times. Malaysia has emerged as a new death bed for Nepali migrant workers leaving Saudi Arabia far behind. About 113 Nepali migrant workers lost their lives in the destination in the last six months, according to Foreign Employment Promotion Board.
21 January 2013 - Constructionweekonline.com. International unions have lodged a new case with the International Labour Organisation citing the use of "forced labour" in Qatar.
21 January 2013 - The Nation, Sri Lanka. The government was to revise its policies with regard to sending housemaids to the Middle East, officials said. Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) officials told The Nation it would ban housemaids from being sent to take care of children less than two years of age.
21 January 2013 - Migrant Rights. In 2013, Migrant-Rights.org will roll out a new initiative to produce an innovative analysis of the state of migrant rights in the Gulf and wider Middle East. The following assessment of migrant rights in 2012 is a primarily qualitative evaluation, but nonetheless provides critical insight into the current status of migrants rights and establishes a benchmark for the next year.
