Labour Migration

Labour migration has, in the 21st century, moved to the top of the policy agendas of many countries - countries of origin, transit and destination. Most of the world's estimated 150 million migrants are people searching for improved economic opportunities abroad.

Three key factors drive migration and will continue to fuel this kind of movement for many years. They are:

An alarmingly large proportion of labour migration occurs illegally, aided and abetted by a clandestine and often criminal industry.

Increasingly, governments of both sending and receiving countries are developing regulatory mechanisms to manage labour migration. These include selective recruitment policies by countries needing labour, and strong marketing and overseas employment strategies by countries supplying labour.

For some countries of destination, labour migration, particularly of the highly skilled, is more than a temporary manpower adjustment strategy; and can have long-term implications for immigration. For countries of origin, it can support development, for example through remittances. The private sector can play a key role in making labour migration demand-driven in destination countries, and in recruiting workers in countries of origin.

IOM's prime objective in seeking to facilitate the management of labour migration is:
To promote regular labour migration, within the framework of combating irregular migration, fostering the economic and social development of countries of origin, transit and destination, while respecting the rights and integrity of migrants.

Based on the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, IOM defines a migrant worker as a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a national (1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, Article 2).

Activities

In collaboration with concerned governments and other agencies, IOM has developed specific labour migration programmes that can benefit both sending and receiving countries by facilitating more orderly migration, and by better linking this migration to development. IOM programmes in labour migration vary to fit the specific political, economic and geographic context of the migration environment.

In March 2002, as part of the MIDSA initiative, IOM's Regional Office for Southern Africa organised a seminar on Labour Migration in Southern Africa in Gaborone, Botswana.