TY - JOUR
T1 - Indonesia and circular labor migration
T2 - governance, remittances and multi-directional flows
AU - Bal, Charanpal S.
AU - Palmer, Wayne
PY - 2020/3
Y1 - 2020/3
N2 - The World Bank estimated the number of documented and undocumented Indonesian labor migrants to be nine million in 2016, equivalent to about 7 percent of the national labor force, with around 38 percent of them involved in domestic and caregiving work (World Bank, 2017: 11). In 2019, Indonesia was the third-largest migrant-sending country in East and Southeast Asia after China and the Philippines (United Nations, 2019). Yet, at a time when circular labor migration has become a key feature of the global political economy, it is not the figures alone that make Indonesia a compelling case study to examine a wide array of labor migration issues. The Indonesian experience offers useful insights into understanding broader labor migration problems, namely, (i) the problem of contested governance and transnational advocacy; (ii) the oft-debated links between remittances and development; and (iii) issues arising from the multi-directional nature of labor migration. This special section provides a close examination of these key global challenges in the Indonesian context. In our introduction, we situate each of these issues within their broader contexts and attendant debates. We then draw out the key contributions of each paper and outline the implications these have for further research.
AB - The World Bank estimated the number of documented and undocumented Indonesian labor migrants to be nine million in 2016, equivalent to about 7 percent of the national labor force, with around 38 percent of them involved in domestic and caregiving work (World Bank, 2017: 11). In 2019, Indonesia was the third-largest migrant-sending country in East and Southeast Asia after China and the Philippines (United Nations, 2019). Yet, at a time when circular labor migration has become a key feature of the global political economy, it is not the figures alone that make Indonesia a compelling case study to examine a wide array of labor migration issues. The Indonesian experience offers useful insights into understanding broader labor migration problems, namely, (i) the problem of contested governance and transnational advocacy; (ii) the oft-debated links between remittances and development; and (iii) issues arising from the multi-directional nature of labor migration. This special section provides a close examination of these key global challenges in the Indonesian context. In our introduction, we situate each of these issues within their broader contexts and attendant debates. We then draw out the key contributions of each paper and outline the implications these have for further research.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086245234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0117196820925729
DO - 10.1177/0117196820925729
M3 - Editorial
AN - SCOPUS:85086245234
VL - 29
SP - 3
EP - 11
JO - Asian and Pacific Migration Journal
JF - Asian and Pacific Migration Journal
SN - 0117-1968
IS - 1
ER -