Bilateral Arrangement of Temporary Labor Migration : Lessons from Korea’s Employment Permit System
The number of individuals who have crossed borders has mushroomed over recent years. The phenomenon of international migration, however, is heterogeneous in terms of the underlying motives and aspirations of migrants. Forced international migrants...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/684731537420880821/Bilateral-Arrangement-of-Temporary-Labor-Migration-Lessons-from-Korea-s-Employment-Permit-System-Main-Report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30471 |
| Summary: | The number of individuals who have
crossed borders has mushroomed over recent years. The
phenomenon of international migration, however, is
heterogeneous in terms of the underlying motives and
aspirations of migrants. Forced international migrants are
involuntarily displaced refugees who flee conflict,
violence, or persecution across an international border.
Voluntary migrants can additionally be classified into two
categories: (i) temporary labor migrants who migrate for
economic reasons for a fixed duration of time, and (ii)
immigrants who move with the intention of changing their
country of residence, due to factors such as wanting to
reunite with family or to benefit economically. Bilateral
labor agreements (BLAs) between sending and receiving
countries are institutional tools designed to facilitate
migratory flows and maximize the potential benefits of
temporary international migration for all concerned. This
study focuses on the employment permit system (EPS) in
Korea, a temporary migration program for low-skilled workers
considered a good global practice among efforts toward the
goal of co-development - that is, the mutual benefit of both
sending and receiving nations. The EPS has accomplished
several remarkable achievements, including a drastic
reduction in migrants’ cost burden, enhanced transparency,
reduction in the share of workers overstaying, and improved
access to worker protection. The process used to match
employers and temporary labor migrants also merits
significant improvement. |
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