Thousands of South Asians and Southeast Asians pour into Japan and the newly industrialized countries (NICs) in search of work each year. Labour migration is a world phenomenon, but national governments have failed to respond and even people's movements have not formulated coherent perspectives and agendas.
After a decade of promoting foreign investment, Thailand now proclaims itself as Asia’s fifth economic ‘dragon’. Since 1991, the country’s annual GDP growth has been above 7%. For many third-world countries, Thailand’s success story reaffirms the paradigm of the ‘‘NIC’’ model of capitalist development in Asia.
Is the ICFTU theory back-to-front? Is the so-called New World Order (NWO) in danger of being ‘killed off at birth by casino capitalism’, as the ICFTU maintains? Yes and no.
As the world recovers from a major war and many international forces and international alliances are being reassessed, implications for labour are far-reaching.
The fact that migrant workers are the main source of foreign exchange for some Asian countries further highlights the complexity and seriousness of a war whose real effects and implications are just beginning to be felt.