Countries need to maximize the overall economic contribution of migrants
Vietnamese migrant workers made jobless and homeless by the pandemic queue for lunch at Daionji Temple in Honjo, Japan, on Feb. 20: the pandemic compelled labor-receiving countries to pay attention to the plight of its migrants. © Getty Images
Rashesh Shrestha is an economist with the Economic Research Institute for Association for Southeast Asian Nations and East Asia.
Just before COVID-19 hit, the Japanese government was reforming its labor migration system, which is often criticized for being too restrictive.
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