Original Language
English
ISBN (PDF)
978-92-9268-031-2
Number of Pages
66
Reference Number
PUB2021/012/EL
Date of upload

10 Jun 2021

Assessing Potential Changes in Lao Migration Trends and Patterns

This report analyses the migration trends and remittance inflows for Lao People’s Democratic Republic while identifying gaps and challenges in policy and legislative frameworks, such as social protection provisions. This report also estimates the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migration patterns of migrant workers in Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Lao migrants in Thailand, as well as remittance inflows from Thailand to Lao People’s Democratic Republic and its impact on Lao remittance-receiving households.  It also provides a prognosis of how these events might affect trends in migration in the Greater Mekong Subregion in the foreseeable future. Finally, the report concludes with key recommendations that offer a way forward in establishing a more coherent approach to migration governance, particularly in the time of COVID-19.

The report is divided into six sections: (a) Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s migration profile; (b) migration policy and practice; (c) access to social security for Lao migrants; (d) remittance inflows from Thailand to Lao People’s Democratic Republic; (e) impact of COVID-19 on migration trends and patterns; and (f) conclusion and recommendations.

  • Acknowledgements 
  • Table of contents 
  • List of figures and tables 
  • List of acronyms and abbreviations 
  • Definition of terms 
  • I. Introduction 
    • 1.1. Executive summary
      • 1.1.1. Methodology 
      • 1.1.2. Summary of findings 
      • 1.1.3. Key recommendations
  • 2. Technical report 
    • 2.1. Purpose and content of this report 
    • 2.2. Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s migration profile 
      • 2.2.1. Inbound migration 
      • 2.2.2. Role of migrants in the labour force 
      • 2.2.3. Outward migration 
      • 2.2.4. Internal migration 
    • 2.3. Migration policy and practice 
      • 2.3.1. Migration policy framework in Lao People’s Democratic Republic 
      • 2.3.2. Migration policy framework in Thailand 
      • 2.3.3. Intra-ASEAN labour mobility 
      • 2.3.4. Challenges and gaps in current policies for inward and outward migration in Lao People’s Democratic Republic 
    • 2.4. Access to social security for Lao migrants 
      • 2.4.1. Migrant status 
      • 2.4.2. Access to health care 
      • 2.4.3. Access to other benefits 
      • 2.4.4. Challenges in accessing social security benefits 
    • 2.5. Remittances inflows from Thailand to Lao People’s Democratic Republic 
      • 2.5.1. Remittance channels 
      • 2.5.2. Sender profile 
      • 2.5.3. Receiver profile 
    • 2.6. Impact of COVID-19 on migration trends and patterns 
      • 2.6.1. Estimates of the employment shock 
      • 2.6.2. Estimates of the impact on remittance inflows to Lao People’s Democratic Republic 
      • 2.6.3. Estimates of the impact on remittance-receiving households in Lao People’s Democratic Republic 
      • 2.6.4. Projected migration trends and patterns in the time of COVID-19 
    • 2.7. Conclusion and recommendations 
      • 2.7.1. Short-term recommendations 
      • 2.7.2. Medium-term recommendations 
      • 2.7.3. Long-term recommendations 
  • Appendix A: Detailed methodology for estimating COVID-19 shock 
  • References