Economic and Social Well-Being of Asian Labour Migrants: A Literature Review

In this research article, we discussed the economic and social well-being of the Asian labour migrants in Asia. We are arguing that this issue is rarely addressed in the literature. The major characteristics of the migrant workers in Asian countries are seriously exploited, marginalized, and infrequently looked from human rights perspective. A Qualitative Interpretative Meta-Synthesis was conducted to analyze the contextual socio-economic factors that characterized intra-Asian migrant workers’ economic and social well-being. It is perceived that in most of the recruiting countries, there are lacks of government commitments to the international protocols, conventions and laws that they ratified towards safeguarding migrant workers’ economic and social well-being. The review results showed that despite some opportunities, the migrant workers had lack of job security, poor salary, long working hours, low access to the public services, poor health, poor living and working conditions, lack of legal rights, and physical and mental threats towards their economic and social well-being. The finding would be important guideline to the governments, policy makers, legal rights practitioners, and human rights organizations.