IOM-MPI Issue in Brief No. 2, Asian Labour Migrants and Health: Exploring Policy Routes

Migrant health issues have risen on the agenda of policymakers in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years, generating momentum at the very highest levels of government. The challenge now is how to translate this momentum into visible changes on the ground. Despite progress on both policy and programmatic fronts, Asian migrant workers continue to face challenges in accessing health facilities and services at all stages of migration – before departure, while in transit, at destination and upon return.

Moving the policy discourse on migrant health issues forward and ensuring changes on the ground first require disentangling myths from realities. There is a persistent public perception that labour migrants are carriers of diseases or that they are a burden to the health systems of the countries that receive them. The reality, however, is different. Labour migrants are generally young and healthier than the native population and they tend to under-utilize health services at destination. Labour migrants’ vulnerability to ill health, however, increases during the migration process due to various risk factors such as lack of adequate health insurance, poverty and uncertain legal status.