ILO Director-General Report Stimulates Debate on Fair Labour Migration

Migration is a key aspect of the world of work in the Pacific. Of all world regions, the Pacific has the highest per capita level of international mobility amongst its resident populations, especially those in Polynesia and Micronesia.

Press release | Suva, Fiji | 28 May 2014
A new report by the ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, highlights the importance of labour migration to many of the world’s workers and the imperative to protect workers, as well as promote development through migration.

Migration is a key aspect of the world of work in the Pacific. Of all world regions, the Pacific has the highest per capita level of international mobility amongst its resident populations, especially those in Polynesia and Micronesia. The Pacific regional economy is also the most dependent on remittances of any region in the world. Labour mobility in the region includes various types of migration, including skilled migration (both between Pacific Island countries, to countries including Australia, New Zealand and the US, and seafaring), and seasonal worker programs particularly in the horticultural sector (to Australia and New Zealand).

The main driver for labour migration in the region is often high unemployment and under-employment in Pacific Island countries. Due to the countries’ geographic remoteness from major markets, and each other, there is limited potential for employment in the domestic private sector, resulting in very small formal sectors. Two additional factors are likely to further decrease the availability of domestic employment in future, thus pushing more workers to find jobs overseas – first a large increase in youth populations; and second, the impact of climate change on core economic sectors (agriculture, tourism and fisheries), as well as on people’s homes and land.
As noted in the Director-General’s Report, there is a need to explore and harness the positive aspects of labour migration – including through action to ensure that remittances can be made securely and at a minimal cost; and to help identify mechanisms through which remittances, skills and knowledge brought back to the sending country can be used to further promote jobs and development.

Research in Pacific Island countries shows that remittances have important development outcomes, with quantitative studies showing that households participating in seasonal worker programs had increased income, household savings, goods ownership, standard of living and child schooling. Studies have also shown that returned migrants are sometimes using savings to launch small businesses, however they often face challenges in accessing training programs on business entrepreneurship and business development services. The piloting of Business Entrepreneurship training for migrants in Papua New Guinea by the ILO Office for Pacific Island countries has been one notable development which is likely to form a good model for other countries.

A short article on the positive aspects of labour migration for development in PNG can be found here: https://www.ilo.org/asia/info/public/features/WCMS_241674/lang--en/index.htm

Ryder will present his report on Fair Labour Migration to the International Labour Conference this week in Geneva and will call for a fair migration agenda.
The report can be viewed in full here: http://www./ilo.org/ilc/ILCSessions/103/reports/reports-to-the-conference/WCMS_242879/lang--en/index.htm