Rethinking free skilled labour migration policies in CLMV countries: a qualitative systematic review
Asian Education and Development Studies
ISSN: 2046-3162
Article publication date: 5 August 2021
Issue publication date: 13 September 2022
Abstract
Purpose
There is an ongoing debate in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2015 concerning the skilled labour migration policy regimes. This review aims to systematise the free flow of skilled labour migration policies in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This review utilised a qualitative systematic in peer-reviewed journals for the period 2015–2019. The initial search identified 28,874 articles. Of those articles, 10,612 articles were screened, 738 articles were checked, 150 articles were selected and 18 articles met the criteria. Data were analysed using thematic synthesis (e.g. coding, categorisation, synthesis and summarisation).
Findings
The review suggested that free movement from CLMV countries is the cause of the mass exodus of unskilled migration to high-income countries. The review found that the free flow of migration policy in the AEC Blueprint 2015 is associated with illegal, unauthorised and unskilled workers in the host country.
Research limitations/implications
A systematic review is qualitative in nature, in which the relevant existing literature lacks some empirical studies, and the results must be generalisable.
Practical implications
The current systematic review provides a visual diagram for practical implications to isolate undocumented, illegal, unpermitted and unskilled migrant workers and further reduce the mass exodus of migration from CLMV countries.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first review to extend the literature to the macro-level determinants of free flow of skilled labour migration policies in CLMV countries. The present review seeks to inform the policy responses of moving freely between sending and receiving countries.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research project is supported by the Second Century Fund (C2F), Chulalongkorn University.
Citation
Daovisan, H., Phukrongpet, P. and Chamaratana, T. (2022), "Rethinking free skilled labour migration policies in CLMV countries: a qualitative systematic review", Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 617-632. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-07-2020-0161
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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