Pei-Chia Lan,
"Global Cinderellas: Migrant Domestic Workers in Asia"
(page 2 of 4)
"Guest Worker" Regime in Asia
East Asian host states opened the door to migrant domestic workers in
response to labor shortages and care deficits in their societies. Hong
Kong and Singapore started recruiting foreign domestic workers in the
1970s in order to push local women into the formal labor
force.[6] Other
countries in the region hold more rigid regulations concerning the
settlement of foreigners given that their populations are much more
ethnically homogeneous. Taiwan slowly opened the gate with caution in
the early 1990s. Japan and South Korea initially only permitted the
labor recruitment of noncitizens of Japanese or Korean descent. The
situation changed only recently when Korea decided to accept unskilled
foreign labor in August 2004 and Japan has been negotiating with the
Philippine and Indonesian governments about recruiting nurses and
caregivers to provide home-visit care services for their aging
populations.
Despite differences in policies, all these host states employ migrant
workers on a temporary contract basis. The "guest worker" regime is
predominant in European and Asian countries that lack a history of
immigration or an ideology that favors permanent
settlement.[7] In Asia,
more restrictive immigration policies are enforced on the basis of state
concerns about geographic constraints, population densities, and
nationalist agendas. Quota controls, work permits, and levies are widely
adopted to control the volume and distribution of
migrant workers.[8]
Immigration is not granted for unskilled migrant workers, although
professional migrants (known as "foreign talents") are entitled to
naturalization after several years of residence. The Singapore
government even prohibits residency to migrant workers married to
Singaporean citizens.
The guest worker regime treats migrant workers as disposable labor,
even when recruited to care for needy children and frail seniors in host
families and nations. Migrant contract workers live in the country of
destination for restricted terms of employment. Through prohibiting
migrant workers from permanent settlement and family reunification, host
states externalize the cost of renewing labor to the economies and
states of origin.[9]
Such an arrangement allows the host countries to
enjoy the labor power of migrants while they are young and healthy. They
are, however, sent back home after they age, fall ill, or suffer injury.
The sending state also favors the guest worker system, positioning
migrants as temporary visitors rather than permanent immigrants. The
sending state often invests in ideological work to secure the loyalty of
its overseas nationals as well as the flow of their regular remittances.
For example, the Philippine government has promoted the notion of
"national heroes" in media campaigns based on the nationalist imagery of
"homeland." In addition, many sending states have established special
financial programs to attract overseas remittances, such as offering tax
breaks, setting up banking facilities in receiving countries, and
requiring the remittance of a fixed share of earnings into
government-controlled accounts.[10]
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