The issue of trafficking in persons for the purposes of labor exploitation is growing phenomenon amongst migrant workers from Myanmar who are working in Thailand's commercial fishing industry. Along with the development of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the opening up of cross-border trade and work flows, this problem can only be expected to continue grow so long as the root causes remain unaddressed.
Read MoreThe research finds out the link between human security and migration through the lived experience of Indonesian domestic workers (IDWs) from recruitment to settlement in Malaysia. Objectives of the research are to identify the potential threats of human security among IDWs, to analyze the respond of IDWs to such threat, and to evaluate the legal mechanisms applicable to protect them. It uses qualitative methods to gather information from key informants with semi-structured and in-depth interviews.
Read MoreThere are hundreds of men, women and children employed to transport commercial goods between Thailand and Cambodia. Through qualitative research, social mapping, and network theory we try to develop a better understanding of this complex livelihood. This case study paints a picture of Poipet's cart pullers and porters and the labour practices and the short-term cross-border migration situation of frontier workers. The research examines their reality and frames their situation in terms of personal and economic security, migration and labour protection mechanisms for cart pullers and porters. This research couples an overview of a complex socio-economic picture with the first-hand experiences and daily challenges that cart pullers and porters face at this bustling economic corridor.
Read MoreMy study focuses on analyzing how the foreign domestic workers in the Maldives resist the cultural alienation that they experience within their workplace and the society at large. The relatively large migrant worker population in the Maldives lives in an environment with heavy restrictions on their rights, limited mobility and limited physical space and privacy. Their vulnerability is emphasized by the limited legal protection, inadequate institutional support and limited voice of migrant workers in the media. The domestic workers work in households, and are often isolated and hidden from the view, making the group potentially an even more vulnerable group within the migrant workers. However, several studies on migrant workers had described their agency in finding ways to resist and respond to socially, culturally and politically restrictive situations. Through participatory fieldwork with Sri Lankan Singhalese domestic workers, I explore how they resist their cultural alienation by redefining their identities and through the use of social networks and by negotiating place and space.
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