Wednesday 05 December, 2001
The Human Tide: People on the move in East Asia
Across East Asia, millions of people are on the move. Some are fleeing persecution. Others are seeking a route out of poverty, moving from countryside to city, and between countries and continents. Everywhere, governments regard migrants with ambivalence, even hostility, torn between the need for cheap labour and fear of social dislocation. Click below to hear our special reports on migration to and from East Asia.
The former head of the UN refugee agency, Sadako Ogata, reflects on the challenges to East Asia posed by the escalating numbers of people fleeing from the Middle East and Central Asia.
one migrant's tale: Malaysia prides itself on megaprojects like the Petronas Towers and the administrative capital, Putrajaya. But much of the construction work was done by illegal migrant labourers. One Burmese migrant tells our reporter Kean Wong about life on the margins, where abuse by police and employers routinely goes unpunished.
Tens of thousands of East Asians work in sweat shops in the United States. Dr Peter Kwong, a labour expert in New York, tells us many illegal migrants work 90 hours a week for barely half the legal minimum wage.
Karen Chan speaks to Mrs Wang, who left her young daughter in China and paid thousands of dollars to a people smuggling gang to embark on a perilous journey to London.
Immigration officer John Tincey gives an inside view of the brutal trade in humans and how the authorities are trying to stop it.
Who's on the move in East Asia, and why? Listen to an interview with Farooq Azam, regional representative for the International Organisation for Migration.
Will the terrorist threat lead to increased hostility to foreigners in the developed world? Dan Stein of the Federation for American Immigration says it's time to tighten controls, while author Jeremy Harding, of the London Review of Books, says migration is both necessary and desirable.
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