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Report

 

Author
Huguet, Jerrold W., Sureeporn Punpuing
Title
International Migration in Thailand
Imprint
International Organization for Migration et. al., Bangkok, 2005
ISBN/ISSN
978 92 9068 252 3
Url
http://www.iom-seasia.org/resource/pdf/SituationReport.PDF
Abstract

"During the period of increasing globalization over the past few decades, Thailand has remained one of the most open economies in Asia. The country has actively participated in increased international exchanges of investment, technology, trade and tourism. In that context, it could have been anticipated that it would also become involved in international flows of migrants. Because of its economic and social stability, it is has become a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and millions of migrant workers from other countries. Although Thailand was an early participant in deploying labour to the Middle East, it now attracts more migrant workers than it deploys, and it is simultaneously a sending, transit and destination country. Because some of these migration trends have evolved and changed rapidly, government policies, legislation, institutions and programmes often lag behind and do not adequately address the current situation, let alone anticipate future trends. It could also be argued that international development agencies often focus on narrow
issues within the broader context and, therefore, do not have the impact that they could on many migration issues. Similarly, much of the recent excellent research carried out related to international migration reviews only a fraction of the overall picture. For these reasons, the inter-agency Thematic Working Group on International Migration believed it would be of value to compile a report on international migration in Thailand that would consolidate and review in one study the existing situation of regular and irregular migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons, and the migration of Thais abroad. Therefore, the objectives of the report are: To generate a common knowledge-base for policy recommendations on international migration among member organizations in the Thematic Working Group; To provide input to the Thai Government’s policy-making process on international migration; To identify gaps in knowledge concerning international migration in Thailand."

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