Managing Irregular Migration from Cambodia

1. Managing Irregular Migration from Cambodia First Technical Workshop 13January 2010 Manila, The Philippines CDRI’s research team: Mr. HING Vutha Mr. LUN Pide

2. Presentation Outlines • Overview of the project • Migration Trends in Cambodia • Placement Systems • Irregular Migrants: Issues and Challenges • Policy and Regulatory Framework • Overall Assessment of Policy and Regulatory Framework • Policy Options

3. 1. Overview of the Project 1.1. Rationale • Irregular migration has posed greater policy challenges for both sending and receiving countries • Cambodia is no exception with irregular migrants representing more than 95 per cent of total migration streams • There are high incidence of labour exploitation and abuse commonly in form of deception about wages, type of work and legal status; withheld wages; retained passports or identity documents; physical confinement; substandard working conditions, and threats of denunciation to the authorities • The widespread occurrence of multi-facet migration problems has echoed a stronger need to design policy intervention in order to better manage and protect them

4. 1.2. Research Objectives • The overall objective is to understand the status of policy and institutional frameworks governing labour migration in Cambodia and how policy and institutional arrangements in place have affected the decisions of households in preferring to migrate illegally rather than legally. 1.3. Methodology • CDRI’s household survey on migration (526 households in 6 villages) • Following-up Focus Group Discussions • Relevant Stakeholder semi-structure interviews (government, international organizations, recruitment agencies)

5. 2. Migration Trends 2.1. Regular / legal migrants 2.2. Irregular / undocumented migrants Reportedly estimated at 180, 000 persons Thailand is the largest destination country for Cambodian irregular migrants; followed by Malaysia

6. 3. Placement Systems 3.1. Legal Recruitment by Private Employment Agencies • Governed by Sub-decree 57, dated in 1995 • The recruitment process takes from 3-6 months • Cost of recruitment is widely deem expensive

7. 3.2. Legal Recruitment by Public Employment Agencies • Governed by Sub-decree 70, which gave competence to Manpower Training and Overseas Sending Board (MTOSB) • MTOSB involve s in recruiting, training and sending and managing Cambodian workers to work overseas ONLY to Republic of Korea • Cost of recruitment is estimated at USD892

8. 3.3. Informal Recruitment • The most popular mean of cross-border movement; yet the placement happens outside the regulatory norms of the sending and receiving countries • Short-range migration: • Job is usually agricultural farming (in provinces adjacent to border) • Placement is facilitated by helpers who usually relatives, friends or villagers • The initial cost of migration could range from USD 22.2USD 24.7 • This placement practise is widely regarded as relatively secure, convenient and cheap • Long-range migration: • Jobs fishing boat, construction and factory work • Placement is facilitated by brokers • The basic services offered by brokers include facilitating border crossing and securing a job in the destination country • Migrants need to pay facilitation fee in advance at costs range from USD 100 to 200.

9. 4. Issues and Challenges facing Irregular Migration from Cambodia 4.1. Who are Irregular Migrants from Cambodia? • Interchangeably used with informal, undocumented or unauthorized migrants: those enter to work in a host country without sufficient legal documents required by that country. • The channel usually facilitated by ring leader, broker or friends (self-migration also observed) Regular vs Irregular Cambodian Migrants to Thailand (%) % Cambodian Migrants by Main Destination

10. 4.2. Cambodian Irregular Migrants: Social and Economic Characteristics • Predominantly young people in late twenties • Household size comparable to that of legal migrants (also to that of the national average) • Yet, lower education level compared to regular migrants Characteristics of Migrants Source: Authors’ calculations based on survey data 2007

11. 4.2. Cambodian Irregular Migrants: Social and Economic Characteristics • Household economic condition is poorer than their regular counterpart as proxied by consumption level and value of asset holdings. Per Capita Mean Consumption per Day in Riel Value of Asset Holding per Capita in Thousand Riel Note: Standard deviation in parentheses. * Significant at 10% level; ** Significant at 5% level; *** Significant at 1% level Source: Authors’ calculations based on survey data 2007

12. 4.3. Causes of Irregular Migration • High costs, longer time, and complex procedures by legal means are to blame • Given low economic status of irregular migrants, cost is the major determinant • Strong social network helps ease the flow Costs of Migration in USD Source: Authors’ calculations based on survey data 2007

13. 4.4. Issues and Challenges • There emerge cases of exploitation, abuses, and at worst, human trafficking involving irregular migration • Exploitation includes long working hours with low wages; physical abuses reported • Children trafficked to Thailand to work as baggers and flower sellers; men work on sea fishing boat and women as sex workers • Fundamental rights as healthcare and education are denied; self-selection prevents them from accessing those rights • Living in fear while tighten border control could not solve the problem

14. 5. Policy and Regulatory Framework 5.1. Labour Migration Policy • Strategic Plan 2006-2010 • It outlines national labour migration strategy to achieve three major objectives: • (i) improving the management of overseas occupation; • (ii) creating employment permit system; and • (iii) protecting migrant workers. • The strategy has proposed several important measures in the areas of foreign labour market information, monitoring recruitment companies, coordination among relevant institutions, and protection of migrant workers.

15. Policy on labour migration for Cambodia • It was formulated and endorsed in mid-2010 • It identifies THREE policy challenges • Policy challenges in migration governance: • Development of a sound labour migration policy, a legal framework, and effective management of labour migration • Policy challenges in protection and empowerment of migrant workers: • Adoption of the rights-based approach to preventing of, and protection against, abusive migration practices; • The application and enforcement of national law and regulation in accordance with international labour standards and applicable regional instruments • Policy challenges on migration and development: • Mainstreaming labour migration issues within the national development agenda; • Establishing a system of recognition for skills gained from labour migration; • Promoting the productive use of migrant worker remittances for community development; • Providing workers return and reintegration services

16. 5.2. Regulatory Framework • Sub-decree 57 on the Sending of Khmer Workers to Work Abroad, dated 1995, is the primary regulation governing labour migration in Cambodia • Formalize the process of cross-border labour emigration • Provide competence to Ministry of Labour to issue license to PEAs • It is composed of 22 articles, most of them defining the legal framework of cooperation between the ministry and PEAs • It provide for the procedural measures on key recruitment issues including proposal for recruiting workers, deposit requirement, employment contract, pre-departure training for PEAs to comply with. • Besides national legislations , labour emigration in Cambodia is also governed by bilateral labour export agreement via MoU • Countries that Cambodia has MoU with include Malaysia, Thailand, Korea and Kuwait

17. 6. Overall Assessment of Policy and Regulatory Framework • Lack of policy coherence • Reference to labour migration is hardly found in the national development plans and policies • Lack of information exchange, inter-ministerial consultation, and joint implementation of migration policies and programs • No regular engagement in comprehensive, balanced and better-informed dialogue between those relevant stakeholders on migration and development issues • Lack of comprehensive coverage • Management of the labour migration process, the protection of migrant workers, and the reintegration of Cambodian migrant worker are not covered in the primary law • Limited scope of application: cover legal migrant workers BUT NOT irregular migrants

18. Lack of clarity • The regulatory framework governing migration in Cambodia is also widely seen as vague with most provisions being broad and lack of clarity • No description and guideline for pre-departure training • No desirable minimum standards for employment contract • No mechanism for monitoring the practices of PEAs • Lack of Effective Labour Management System • The PEAs operate in high self-discretion in the recruitment, placement and sending process with no strict legality verification and no active monitoring of recruitment activities; • Migrants received very little information as to their rights, the duties and obligations of their employers and labour agents, the worksite and living conditions, practical tips on health and safety;

19. 7. Policy Options to Better Address Irregular Migration from Cambodia • Areas that need immediate policy responses include: • Enlarge coverage of regulatory framework… cover several important areas in migration as well as apply to both regular and irregular migrants • Address excessive recruitment cost • Intensify information and educational campaign on safe migration as well as the risk of irregular migration • Inter-state cooperation is also necessary

20. THANK !