Benefits of protecting migrants overlooked: UN

The Myanmar Times on the UN's 2015 Asia-Pacific Migration report:

"The [UN] research shows that 'it is the prevailing economic and policy context which shapes the impact of migration'. The UN argues the region could and should be doing more to promote a streamlined process ensuring everything from fair recruitment practices, to social protections, fair pay and assimilation. Few of the [Southeast Asia] region’s countries have implemented comprehensive, long-term migration policies, however. In this absence, bilateral agreements reign over the migration process, but often fail to provide adequate protection or oversight. Inevitably, unscrupulous brokers and human trafficking fill the vacuum... Instead of seeing migrants as a national security threat or funnelling labourers to destination countries through short-term arrangements that restrict rights and neglect abuses, the report suggests both countries of origin and destination must put better structures in place."

"Benefits of protecting migrants overlooked: UN," Myanmar Times, 8 March 2016