Advocacy paper “Who pays? Recruitment Fees for Migrant Workers from Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar to Japan”

Since 1993, Japan has been accepting migrant workers through the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). Despite its stated skill transfer objectives, the program largely functions as a de-facto guest worker program. Due to high recruitment fees and related costs, many migrant workers suffer financial hardship and leave the TITP for better paying work, notwithstanding the fact that such decisions jeopardise their immigration status. Acknowledging the need to tackle this problem, various initiatives have emerged, both in Japan and countries of origin, to reduce recruitment fees and work towards a zero-recruitment fee model. However, to successfully move forward, collaboration among stakeholders is critical. To inform the policy discourse and facilitate effective collaboration, this MMN advocacy paper provides updates from a country-of-origin perspective, focusing on Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. It elaborates on migration to Japan from these countries, the zero-recruitment fee model, as well as relevant efforts to regulate migration costs. The paper draws on MMN’s recent research focusing on the roles of countries of origin, along with interviews and joint analysis conducted during our country visits to Vietnam and Cambodia.

The advocacy paper is available in English and Japanese.