Return Migration in the Asian Context

Studies have shown that return migration in the Asian context is closely associated with the policies and rhetoric of nation states (Xiang 2013b; Baas 2015). For example, Xiang (2013b) highlights that return migration in Asia was ‘encouraged, facilitated and often enforced’ by states. This reflects ‘an overarching mode of governance’ that looks to ‘regulate mobility not by blocking but by facilitating movements’ (Xiang 2013b, 2–3). This governance also occurs in an environment partially characterised by the prevalence of a ‘temporary migration regime’ in Asia. This temporary migration regime – based on time-limited visas and short work contracts with few (if any) legal pathways towards permanent residence – has become a fundamental governing principle enforcing and perpetuating labour migrants’ continuous transnational mobility across national borders (Yeoh 2022). The temporary migration regime is also indicative of the regulatory constraints on foreigners’ permanent settlement and employment rights in China. This, coupled with Korea’s strong cultural values and preferential university admissions policies to attract overseas nationals back home, provides an explanation for return migration in my case study.

In Diasporic Homecomings, Tsuda (2009) attributes the motives of various diasporic populations returning to their ethnic homelands to two interconnected reasons: economic and ethnic.