• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.183-193
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• 2011

Objectives: A rapid increase in the population of migrant workers in Korea has brought new challenges regarding the possible effects of acculturation on health. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of acculturation- and work-related psychosocial factors on work-related musculoskeletal disorders among migrant female workers living in Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A translated, structured questionnaire was administrated to 156 southeastern Asian female full-time workers living in Korea. Results: About 35% of the participants experienced some type(s) of work-related musculoskeletal disorder(s), which were more prevalent in Vietnamese women than in Thai and Filipino women. Women who preferred to maintain their own heritage and to reject the host country heritage were at risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: Acculturation strategy and nationality were found to be significant factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Health professionals need to accommodate acculturation contexts into risk assessment and intervention development for work-related musculoskeletal disorders separately for different nationalities.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.77-115
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• 2017

This study examines how a Burmese migrant clinic in a Thai border town cares for migrant patients and activates cross-border health care mobility. Established in 1989, the clinic has developed its capacity and serves as a prominent healthcare institution across the border. Despite its illegality, Thai authorities recognize its importance and collaborate with the clinic. The study reveals that collaborations with various partners play important roles in the constitution of the clinic. Unlike existing literature on the health of migrants, which concerns structural constraints, the study emphasizes migrants' agency in creating their own health care institution through collective partnerships, shedding light on the cross-border health care mobility of underprivileged patients. The legitimate presence of the migrant clinic in the border town mediates and strengthens their transnational mobility across the border. Partnerships with various individuals and organizations have empowered the clinic to undertake a unique role in the border society.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2018

Objective : Migration can be a stressful process to people because they have to adjust a lot of things including habits, routine and cultural behavior. Also, Migrant can negatively impact on participation in daily meaningful occupations. Thus, the purpose of this research is to investigate whether participation in meaningful occupations after immigration and environmental factors impact the QOL in migrant women. Method : Migrant females who live in Australia were invited to participate in the study (n= 9). In this study, participation, environmental factors and QOL were measured using the questionnaire, which was developed by researchers. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants who were then asked to fill out a survey. Both quantitative data and qualitative data were collected. The SPSS program was used to process the quantitative data that was transcribed and coded. Result : Spearman's rank correlation coefficient shows that the total scale of QOL and the total scale of occupational engagement were significantly correlated at the 0.05 level. Conclusion : There was a significant relationship between quality of life and occupational engagements. Migrant women tend to have a lack of participation in meaning occupations thus, it seems to impact on their quality of life.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.164-176
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• 1998

This study deals with the current medical utilization for migrant workers and the characteristics of them. The purpose of this study is to provide the basic information to establish proper medical policy. For the study self-made questionnaire was used, which was answered by 453 migrant workers working in the area of manufacturing and non-technical work in 10 cities like Seoul, Inchon, Namyangju, Sungnam, Kwangju, Pyungchon, Kunpo, Kimpo, Masuk in Kyungki-do and Chunan in Chungchungnam-do. Besides, 303 medical records of those who had visited free medical check-up center were analyzed. The period of accumulating data is 6 months, from November 1st, 1996 to April 30th, 1997. The characteristics of migrant workers and current medical utilization are analyzed by percentage and the relation between characteristics and current medical utilization were analyzed using ${\chi}^2$-test, t-test, ANOVA. The finding of this study was as follows : 1) The number of nationality was 16. The first majority was Philippians as 32.0%. Among 16 nationalities Southeastern and Northern Asians were 48.9%, Southwestern Asian was 46.5%, the rest was 7.3%. Men were 81.0%, those who are aged from 26 to 30 were 39.0%, Graduatee from high school 92.7%, Christians 56.3%, unmarried 55.4% and salary from 600,000 Won to 800,000 Won 53.8% averaging monthly payment 669,810 Won. As for their residence, those who resided over 3 years were 31.9% and the illegal residence reached 77.4%. As for Korean language, those who speak in middle level were 5.6%. 2) As for kind of work and circumstances, manufacturing was 81.1%, 4 off-days per month 72.2% and 9-10 working hours per day 42.1%. As for accommodation, residence in fabric was 62.6% and one or two members as roommate 40.2%. 3) The characteristics of health behavior showed that 89.4% of migrant workers had 3 meals, 70.9% of them did not drink alcohol, 73.5% of them did not smoke. 4) As a characteristic of health status, 71.8% of them perceived of their health. 76.1% thought that they had no illness before coming Korea. Among them who recognized their illness, those who had problem in circulatory system was 35.3%, respiratory system ENT 19.1% and nervous system 19.1%.66.2% of those having illness had already had sickness when coming to Korea. 5) During last one month, 79.2% of them were known as ones having no illness. Among the sick, those who had problem in circulatory system was 31.6%, nervous system 23.7% and respiratory system 21.1%. 60.3% of the sick were not cured at that time. 6) Sorting the symptom of those who visited free medical check up, dental care was 24.2%, orthopedic 14.0% and digestive system 13.8%. Teethache was 34.4%, stomach problem 11.6%, upper respiratory inflammation 10.2% and back pain 5.9%. Averagely they visited free medical check up 1-2 times. According to symptom, epilepsy 25.5 times, heart and vascular disease 9 times, constipation 2.8%, neurosis 2.38 times and stomach problem 2.34 times. 7) The most frequently visited medical service by migrant workers was hospital. The most mentioned reason was good healing as 36.3%. The medical service satisfied migrant workers mostly was hospital as 64.3%. The reason of satisfaction was also good healing as 45.9%. 8) 77.2% of respondents did not spend money for medical check. Average monthly medical cost was 25,100 Won, 3.7% of income. Those who had no medical security was 73.4%. In their case, 67.7% got discount from hospital or support from working place and religious organization. 9) As for the difference of medical utilization according for the characteristics of migrant workers, legal workers and no-Korean speaker used hospital more frequently. 10) Those who were satisfied most of all with the service of hospital were female workers, hinduists and buddhists, legal workers or manufacture workers. 11) Christians, those who have 3 meals or recognize themselves as healthy ones mostly had no illness. As a result, the most of migrant workers in Korea are from Asia. They are good educated but are working in manufacturing and illegal. Their average income is under 700,000 Won which in not enough for medical cost. They have no medical security and medical fee is supported by religious organization or discounted. Considering these facts the medical policy by government is to be established.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.774-791
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• 2016

Recent studies on Asian suburbanization suggest that their settlement patterns do not confirm to those of earlier migrant streams, and that different residential patterns of Asian ethnic minority groups have created a complex ethnic mosaic in suburban areas. This paper examines the extent to which residential patterns of main Asian minority groups have changed in Westchester, where is one of suburban counties around New York City. With mapping base on Census of Population data in 2000 and 2010 years, the residential patterns of five Asian groups (Asian Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, and Koreans) are analyzed through the indices of segregation. The residential segregation geography of the Asian ethnic groups is characterized by dispersed concentration. There is a difference among the characteristics of the ethnic neighborhoods in which Asian minority groups are residentially concentrated.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.27-59
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• 2022

During the past two decades, the Southeast Asian region has experienced a range of major crises. Service industries such as tourism and the marginal and migrant laborers who work in them have usually been at the sharp end of these testing events, from natural and environmental disasters, epidemics and pandemics, global financial slumps, terrorism, and political conflict. The latest challenge is the "Novel Coronavirus" (Covid-19/SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. It has already had serious consequences for Southeast Asia and its tourism development and these will continue for the foreseeable future. Since the SARS epidemic of 2002-2004, Southeast Asian economies have become integrated increasingly into those of East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong). This paper examines one of the most significant current crises, Covid-19, and its consequences for Southeast Asia, its tourism industry, and its workers, comparing experiences across the region, and the issues raised by the over-dependence of some countries on East Asia. In research on crises, the main focus has been on dramatic, unpredictable natural disasters, and human-generated global economic downturns. Not so much attention has been devoted to disease and contagion, which has both natural and socio-cultural dimensions in origins and effects, and which, in the case of Covid-19, evoke a pre-crisis period of normality, a liminal transition or "meantime" and a post-crisis "new normality." The transition is not straightforward; in many countries, it operates as a set of serial lockdowns and restrictions, and to predict an uncertain future remains difficult.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.17-38
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to identify the Korean government's policies and responses to migrants with HIV/AIDS and their legal grounds, and to examine the effectiveness of the HIV/AIDS laws and regulations in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. For the purpose, this study have conducted an extensive literature review and in-depth interviews with relevant government officials, experts and NGO leaders in East Asian countries including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia. The results show that Korea maintains the strictest policies and implements strong rules and regulations against migrants with HIV, keeping them from entering and staying in the country by any means. Regarding the results, this study discusses issues and problems raised by the Korean government's HIV/AIDS policy for migrants in terms of public health and human rights.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.95-119
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• 2016

From the migrant care-workers arriving in Japan from the Philippines and Indonesia to support the depleted social support system for the large population of the elderly (Ogawa 2012) to the increasing number of retiring Japanese embarking on long-stay tourism in Malaysia (Ono 2015), the Japanese image of Southeast Asia as an exotic destination offering cheap labor in return for official development assistance seems to be fading away. Yet these changes are not necessarily reflected in the way contemporary Japanese, especially those who belong to the global, "spiritual-but not-religious" (Fuller 2001) population, think of and "consume" Southeast Asia in their daily lives. Using three case-studies, spiritual tours, Thai massage, and an NGO founded by a Japanese spiritual therapist, this paper argues that in Japan's large spiritual market, which targets people seeking alternative ways to express their religiosity, the old-fashioned colonial exoticism of Southeast Asian narratives were integrated in a totalizing discourse, in which Japan remains the exceptional outlier (Tanaka 1993), a country still claimed to be "advanced" both spiritually and economically.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.129-157
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• 2011

This study attempts to analyze the effect of level of education on the attitudes toward immigrants or foreign workers. More specifically, we examine whether there is significant difference in the effects of the level of education and global mind on the attitude among three East Asian countries (South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan), controlling other socio-demographic factors in relation to increase in immigrants and foreign workers. Using EASS data, we employs sequential logit model to the general attitudes toward immigrant workers into the weighted sum of transition probability within each educational level. One major finding is that there is clear and significant difference in the relationship between the level of education and the attitudes toward foreign workers among three countries. In general, while Japanese and Taiwanese tend to have more open-minded attitudes toward foreign workers as they have higher level of education, Koreans are opposite case that they are little bit more hostile toward to foreign workers with higher level of education. Especially, there is strong positive effect of education on the attitude in Taiwanese case. Another finding is that while there is strong resistance against increase in migrant population in Korea and Taiwan, Japanese respondents want current level of foreign population to remain in the similar level. Our findings imply that there is no one converging pattern of relationship between the level of education and the positive attitudes toward foreign workers which can be applied to any country. Therefore, this paper suggests that unique political, social, and cultural characteristics of each country should be considered to better understand the effect of education on the attitude toward immigrants and foreign workers. Also, we conclude that systematic comparative-demographic analyses should be utilized to provide more comprehensive picture of how difference in educational level affects the attitude toward immigrants and foreign workers.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.79-89
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• 2023

The paper aims to investigate the asymmetric long-run and short-run relationships between inflation and remittance outflows in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (hereafter KSA) over the period 1971-2019 by using the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model. The statistical tests have supported the validity and stability of the model. The Wald F-test statistics confirm the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship among the model variables; remittance outflows, positive (negative) shocks in inflation rates, investment, real GDP, and trade openness. Moreover, the empirical results confirm the existence of an asymmetric effect of the inflation rate on remittance outflows. The response of foreign workers to an increase in inflation rates differs from their response to a decrease in inflation rates. However, this asymmetric relationship between the increases/decreases in inflation and remittance outflows is significantly weak. The weakness of this relationship is due to the high marginal remittance propensity of migrant workers, which is explained by the low consumption propensity of foreign workers and their ability to adjust to the high cost of living due to inflation and the imposition of accompanying fees. Finally, the change in the inflation rate is not among the main factors influencing foreign remittance decisions in Saudi Arabia.