Sustainable Livelihoods Archives

The Challenges Faced by Migrant Workers in South Asia

Millions of people across South Asia, including entire families, are forced to leave their homes and communities to seek work as migrant labourers, largely due to the increased pressures that poverty, a lack of sustainable livelihoods, and climate change have on local opportunities.

Migrant workers often travel huge distances to find daily wage work in sectors such as agriculture, construction, and domestic work, as this kind of insecure work is often the only choice available to them. This desperation for work leaves them vulnerable to manipulation, exploitation and abuse from traffickers and opportunists. Lack of access to educational resources, combined with low literacy rates, means that many migrant workers struggle to access the rights and benefits that might protect them.