Globalisation will expedite the pace of migration and governments must reconcile this reality with their immigration policies or face the consequence of aggravating inter-state relations, said an international body today.

"The rapid globalisation process, demographic imbalances and unequal development among Asian countries are likely to fasten the pace of international migration, both documented and undocumented," said International Organisation of Migrants (IOM) representative Shahidul Haque.

"But attempts are made by some Asian states to restrict the movement of people across borders imposing strict control on the grounds of security, national interest and protection of their citizens," he said in his paper at the Regional Conference on Undocumented Migrants in Port Dickson beach town, about 100 kilometer south of Kuala Lumpur today.

The paper, was read by Josie Fernandez on behalf of conference organisers Tenaganita, Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants and Migrante International.

Progress hindered

Shahidul said this notion of state sovereignty hindered progress towards the evolution of a global migration regime similar to that of trade.

"If not addressed in time, this 'tension' was likely to further aggravate, hampering the progress of the regional consultation, and could also spill over to inter-state relations in Asia," he warned in his paper.

According to him, a large number of migrants in Asia move in irregular situations and continue to remain outside their country of birth as undocumented migrants.

"Undocumented migration is the 'dark side' of migration that may place people in a 'harm' situation," he said.

He added that people smuggling and trafficking were lucrative businesses worth a whopping US$10 (RM38) to US$20 (RM76) billion annually.

"In the globalised world, as more people seek to leave their homeland in search of better livelihood at a time when opportunities of legal migration are limited and difficult, more people become undocumented migrants," he said.

Shahidul also noted that governments found it difficult to curb such cross-border clandestine movements.

Some non-governmental organisations estimate that the proportion of illegal migrants to legal entrants in Malaysia could be as high as one to one.

IOM states that some 2.6 million documented workers have left Asia between 1995 to1999. Out of this, 50 percent were Southeast Asian and 46 percent were South Asian.

By 2000, female migrants in East and Southeast Asia amounted to five million, surpassing the number of male migrants.

Despite this, governments were hesitant to sign on regional agreements for fear of domestic social or political backlash.

'Political liability'

Shahidul said active participation in regional intergovernmental processes "could be perceived as a political liability" as citizens in receiving countries may not be aware of the realities of migration today.

The forum also saw participants giving their take on why a genuine multilateral agreement that addresses the human aspect of migration will continue to be hampered.

Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez. said inter-governmental dialogues on migration focus on the question of how governments can open new markets, rather than the welfare and safety of workers being trafficked.

However, she added that because of the US position on trafficking of women and prostitution, states were now compelled to act against trafficking or face possible sanctions by the US.

In addition, she said, governments were also concerned of the trade imbalances caused by growths in the illegal economy.

"There is less and less focus on undocumented workers and more on the issue of trafficking because the global economy cannot sustain itself if the illegal economy isn't controlled at an acceptable level.

"Malaysia, for example, was forced to deal with human trafficking as the proportion it has taken on the economy has increased," she said.

Profitable export

According to Roy Anunciacion of Migrante International, migrants are viewed by many sending states as a commodity since labour exportation make a large part of a country's GDP.

Referring to the Phillippines, he said foreign labour generates US$12 billion in foreign exchange annually.

"It is in this context where past and present governments show criminal neglect of the welfare of their citizens," he added.

As an international body, IOM conducts inter-governmental meetings on migration and migrant trafficking. In Asia, it had brought 16 countries to address irregular migration in four consultations between 1996 and 2000 called the Manila Process.

The organisation was also responsible for the Bali Ministerial Conferences on People Smuggling, Trafficking and Related Transnational Crime, held in Feb last year and April this year, which saw nations expressing commitment on practical measures to prevent and intercept people smuggling.