Bangkok: Asian governments should look at the 15 to 20 million migrants in the region as a workforce to be tapped rather than convenient scapegoats for politicians, a UN report released today said.

The report urges Asian leaders to set aside their own countries concerns and come up with a unified scheme for fighting illegal migration and human trafficking, exploitation and the spread of HIV/AIDS that sometimes follows.

"Governments are still thinking of this as something that needs to be fixed rather than an ongoing process that needs to be managed," said Federico Soda, a co-author of the report from the UN s International Organisation for Migration.

The report on international migration in East and Southeast Asia covers 16 separate countries with varying viewpoints on immigrants.

They range from the Singapore, where foreigners now make up 25 per cent of the population and 30 per cent of the workforce, to fledgling East Timor, where immigrants must give up any other passport and pay a daily foreigner tax.

More migrant workers will likely be needed in countries like Singapore and Malaysia, where growth is outpacing the workforce, the report states.

"You have large economies growing at the speed of light and they need workers," said Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, regional representative of IOM.

But the foreign-born worker can also be a powerful scapegoat when countries have trouble employing their own citizens, said Soda.

"I think it will become especially so if the economic downturn is as sharp as some people think it will be," he said, referring to the current global financial crisis.
Source : PTI