From Asia to the World: “Regional” Contributions to Global Migration Research

Migration from Asia has become an important theatre of regional and international migration and thus the crucible of theoretical developments which have attracted global attention. Yet, these contributions have not received explicit acknowledgement. This paper sets out to address this gap by outlining the cross-border, mostly South South, migration especially along corridors between and across East, Southeast, South and West Asia. Empirically, cross-border intra-regional migration in search for work and livelihoods has been a significant feature in Asia for many decades, with male migrants generally responding to the need for workers in the productive sectors and female migrants mostly (but not exclusively) recruited to care work or other reproductive sectors. Over time, this migration has become increasingly multi-directional and complex in terms of categories of migrants, drivers and outcomes. This paper outlines some of this complexity before going on to focus on three themes – labour migration, impact of migration on the family, and governance and politics – to showcase the regional specificities of migration corridors in Asia. In doing so, it points to the implications of the globalisation of Asian specificities for migration thinking.