Migration in the Asia Pacific

This volume examines the trends and labour patterns of migrants, their relationship with the state and the impacts they have on the societies in which they work and sometimes settle. It adopts a multidisciplinary perspective which encompasses economics, history, politics, geography and sociology, and presents a body of empirical research that forms the basis of many of the chapters. As a whole, the book emphasizes the growing importance and value of transnational communities and mutliple identities. It covers many of the diverse migration patterns that have recently emerged - from rural out-imgration in China, to international labour movements in the Asia Pacific region as a whole. The conditions of many migrant workers are far from satisfactory and this is highlighted in a number of the chapters. Settlement outcomes, when and where they occur, have major policy and social implications and are changing the ethnic composition of many countries in the region. The growth of civil society in Singapore, increased ethnic diversity in Japan and the emergence of New Zealand's multicultural population are all examples of the developments that host nations are having to come to terms with.