The Commission's underlying theme that improving health for all because it is a good thing in itself is commendable because we should 'get real' about what really matters – the implementation of social justice policies that will reduce health inequality within a relatively short period of time. Examples of policies that impact on people's socio-economic circumstances and will result in widespread health improvement include tax, housing and transport policies. Governments should ensure a living wage for workers, a reduction in work-related stress and a healthy life-balance. These policies are commensurate with the Millennium Development Goals. The body of evidence presented in the Report clearly demonstrates major and unacceptable levels of health inequity between, and within, countries. The Report also provides helpful and useful illustrations of some familiar themes and in establishing and explaining the connections between basic factors that are causing poor health and health inequities globally.

Labour migration in Southeast Asia since the 1970s and 1980s must be understood as an integral part of the post-colonial new geographies of migration. The scope and scale of transnational movements have grown rapidly and major states like Malaysia and Thailand between them currently host about 70 per cent of the estimated 13.5 million migrant workers in the region. Singapore's foreign labour force accounts for 25 per cent of the country's workforce. Two phenomena characterize these labour movements. Like labour-importing Western democracies, the major Southeast Asian labour-importing countries rely on the guest worker program to solve their labour shortage problems. They regulate immigration through elaborate administrative frameworks that are focussed on border control while brokerage firms and labour recruiters carry out recruitment, transportation and placement of migrant workers. These countries' immigration policies also often provide incentives for skilled workers, boost circular migration flows among low-skilled workers, and include severe penalties for unauthorised migrants. Additionally, comparisons between these countries point to patterns of convergence among them. This paper explores migration trends in the post-colonial geography of migration against the backdrop of growing regionalism and the development of regional migration systems and migration corridors. It also examines the "new world domestic order" and the development of gendered migration linkages that have resulted in the expansion of the domestic work sector and care-giving migration.

The cross-border movement of people, consistent with the increased integration of economies and ongoing changes in the international division of labour, is an essential component of economic globalisation. Yet while trade and financial flows are welcomed by nations, people flows raise concerns about possible excessive influxes of migrant workers and irregular migrants and the potential erosion of national sovereignty. This has resulted in more restrictive immigration policies, evolving border control regimes and barriers. The sharp increase in labour mobility has also coincided with the growth of a migration industry, the establishment of official recruitment agencies and the increasing role of private entrepreneurs and middlemen providing all sorts of services to migrant workers in exchange for fees. Paradoxically, although the economic incentives for people to move have become stronger, immigration restrictions and intensified border controls in labour-exporting countries now constitute the principal barrier to international labour migration, International migration is also entwined with human rights and has become a major domestic and international political issue, particularly for Europe and North America. This issue is debated mainly in the context of western countries, and population movements in Southeast Asia/Asia are less well understood.

Malaysia was built on immigration and, like other labour-importing countries, acknowledges the case for temporary labour migration as a solution to labour shortages in the country. The government has endorsed guest worker programs that are typically short term, and that include a range of restrictions to regulate the movement of low-skilled foreign workers. Most exclude explicit reference to labour protections. The State's low-skilled labour policy essentially vacillates between ensuring a continual supply of cheap labour and instigating crackdowns on undocumented migrants. Although the State originally imposed higher levies on skilled migrants, it has recently amended this policy and currently offers skilled migrants pathways to permanent residence and citizenship. Nevertheless, the sustained reliance on cheap labour and the way the policy is managed are preventing Malaysia from moving up the value chain. Additionally, the activities of labour brokers, disparities in the foreign labour levy system, and demand for labour have contributed to the expansion of irregular migration. Like other countries, Malaysia also relies on the regularisation of irregular migrants as a policy tool to extend legal status to undocumented economic migrants.

Migration and development are prominent themes in international and Asian development debates and are also the topics of the 2009 Human Development Report (HDR 2009), which finds that ‘more mobility would be beneficial’ and posits that countries should make migration easier rather than bolster border control regimes. In Asia, current migration flows indicate an accentuation of trends, reflecting longer-term shifts in the region. The guest worker programmes are also designed for the benefit of host countries whose main aim is to manage the effects of migration. Thus, while the positive impacts of migration remittances for labour-sending countries – such as increased household incomes and better access to education and health care – are indisputable, changes in global migration governance are also crucial for an extension of migrant rights and are the subject of continuing dialogue in regional and international fora. The contributions to this special issue of the 'Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy' call attention to the exploitative nature of guest worker programmes for low-skilled workers in terms of the institutions and practices that constitute the nation state’s governance of migration. In dissimilar ways they address agency and structure in migration and migration’s impact on development and contribute to our knowledge of population movements and border issues in Asia.

Four decades of rapid economic growth in most parts of Asia have resulted in fundamental economic and social transformations and a reduction in overall poverty. Labour markets and labour systems are also changing, as Asian states move progressively up the economic ladder to join the ranks of the second-tier and next-generation industrialising countries. Generally these advances have been warmly welcomed. Nevertheless, many observers are concerned at the trade-offs that have accompanied the Asian path to development: low wages; poor working conditions (especially for women and child workers); and a lack of concern for the environment. There is a widespread belief that Asian governments, in their drive to be internationally competitive, have downplayed the two key areas of labour and environmental standards. As the 1990s drew to a close, there was pressure from some quarters for the insertion of clauses into multilateral trade agreements that would allow trade sanctions against countries that did not comply with labour and environmental standards.

In the past five decades, Malaysia has seen significant influxes in migration from neighbouring countries in Asia. The country relies on mostly cheap and temporary foreign workers for labour force growth and has signed intergovernmental labour accords to fill gaps in the manufacturing, construction, agriculture and service sectors. In constructing its foreign labour policy, the government has also problematized immigration, and migrants are classified either as authorized or unauthorized migrants. This policy has resulted in a hostile environment for all migrants, particularly refugees and asylum seekers. The government has also empowered an armed civilian corps in its campaign against irregular migrants and established detention facilities to judicially detain irregular migrants, including refugees. An earlier task force set up to deal with Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s is presently used for all irregular migrant groups. Both the detention camps and the task force have major implications for the human rights of migrant workers and refugees. This chapter contextualizes these developments within Malaysia's overall immigration policy processes, their impact on the refugee regime in the country and implications for a regional solution.

Liberalisation of trade, investment and capital and transnational movements of people have typified the globalisation of Macau's economy. Simultaneously, reforms in the gaming industry, the expansion of tourism and growth of the hospitality sector have led to labour shortages in the state. Consequently, Macau has turned to poorer states in Asia to fill low-status jobs particularly in the gaming, hotel and restaurant sectors, construction and domestic work sector. The workers are admitted under temporary employment programs that are designed to augment the labour supply, maintain labour flexibility and keep wages down. This policy and welfare provisions have additionally facilitated the participation of local women in the labour force and continues to sustain Macau's international competitiveness. Migrant workers are predominantly low-skilled Chinese workers from mainland China while Filipino and Indonesian women are hired as domestic workers. The deregulation of the labour market has also made it easier for employers to exploit migrant workers and have failed to provide human rights protections for them. Consequently, local labour unions and civil society organisations and international human rights organisations have raised concerns about the treatment of migrant workers, their labour rights and protections in Macau. The vulnerability of the migrant workers and issues of exploitation and poor treatment by employers mirrors the shortcomings and gaps between policy and practice, not only in Macau's migration system but also in the labour-exporting countries of China, the Philippines and Indonesia. Consequently, issues such as the relationship between international migration and remittances and implications for labour protections have to be clarified in the context of migration's contribution to development for exporting states. Establishing better and more effective policy mechanisms for addressing the issues of remittances and development and migrants' rights will support all-inclusive economic and human development for international migrant workers.

Labour migration has been a significant policy issue in Malaysian history since the late nineteenth century and continues to dominate policy-making, security concerns and migration management. Immigration played a pivotal role in the growth of wage labour and shaped labour practices and regimes in various sectors. Crucially, it led to major demographic changes and transformed Malaysia into an immigrant nation.

Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are Southeast Asia’s economic development success stories and have been shifting towards an intra-regional bias on trade and migration matters. All three countries are heavily dependent on foreign workers and have government-mediated migration policies for their continued economic growth and prosperity. Managing migration is a major problem facing these countries, and the guest worker programme is increasingly seen as the optimal solution to fill labour market gaps. Migration policies often provide incentives for skilled workers, boost circular migration flows among low-skilled guest workers and include stringent border-control regimes to exclude unauthorised migration. The guest worker programme is also reliant on networks and intermediaries, and brokerage fees contribute to less-skilled migrant workers’ marginalisation and exploitation. Changes in global migration governance, the inclusion of migrant labour exploitation under the banner of trafficking and the threat of economic sanctions are increasingly resulting in interstate cooperation and more humane border regimes.