Migration Governance through Transnational Connectivity? The Asian Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Labour Migration

This paper will analyze a process that attempts to democratize the governance of migration within and from Asia through connectivity from below: the Asian Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Labour Migration. The caucus was initiated by the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), the major regional network of migrants’ rights organizations, in 2007. Since 2008, meetings have been held in parallel to the ASEAN Inter- Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). In order to reach beyond annual meetings, in 2014 the process was formalized with two major goals: to promote the cause of migrant workers in the respective national parliaments and to collectively engage at the regional and global levels in the development of agreements and legislation. This multilayered strategy will be analyzed by identifying the actors involved and the underlying strategies. Case studies focus on Cambodia and Bangladesh.