Rethinking free skilled labour migration policies in CLMV countries: a qualitative systematic review

PurposeThere is an ongoing debate in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2015 concerning the skilled labour migration policy regimes. This review aims to systematise the free flow of skilled labour migration policies in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) countries.Design/methodology/approachThis review utilised a qualitative systematic in peer-reviewed journals for the period 2015–2019. The initial search identified 28,874 articles. Of those articles, 10,612 articles were screened, 738 articles were checked, 150 articles were selected and 18 articles met the criteria. Data were analysed using thematic synthesis (e.g. coding, categorisation, synthesis and summarisation).FindingsThe review suggested that free movement from CLMV countries is the cause of the mass exodus of unskilled migration to high-income countries. The review found that the free flow of migration policy in the AEC Blueprint 2015 is associated with illegal, unauthorised and unskilled workers in the host country.Research limitations/implicationsA systematic review is qualitative in nature, in which the relevant existing literature lacks some empirical studies, and the results must be generalisable.Practical implicationsThe current systematic review provides a visual diagram for practical implications to isolate undocumented, illegal, unpermitted and unskilled migrant workers and further reduce the mass exodus of migration from CLMV countries.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first review to extend the literature to the macro-level determinants of free flow of skilled labour migration policies in CLMV countries. The present review seeks to inform the policy responses of moving freely between sending and receiving countries.