A migrant worker is a person who leaves for a foreign country in order to earn money for his or her family; as a rule, these trips are temporary – a migrant worker does not immigrate into the country of his or her choice for good (Graeme, 2011). Such means of employment are traditionally referred to as seasonal work. In addition, a migrant worker is often an illegal immigrant, which results in the migrant worker being employed for a ridiculously small salary and often having to work extra hours. Migrant workers make a great chunk of the third world country’s population, especially speaking of Africa and Polynesia. In Malaysia, the number of migrant workers has reached three million in 2013 and is growing exponentially (Verghis, 2010).
Migrant labor may indicate either migrant workers in general or the type of work performed by migrant workers. Migrant labor is the cause of concern in a number of countries, mainly because migrants accept practically any terms offered by their employers, therefore, creating a powerful competitive force for the local candidates for a job. Hence, migrant labor can be a major obstacle for local employees to evolve professionally and, more importantly, may trigger a steep rise in the unemployment rates in the country of migrant laborers’ choice. As a result, an influx of migrant labor into a state does not necessarily signify an improvement in the business sphere; while SMEs may prosper by hiring the staff that is content with literally any terms of the contract, the state may be suffering from great unemployment rates (Danecker, 2013).
Acculturation is the process of an immigrant accepting specific elements of foreign culture, certain behavioral patterns and traditions that are related to the foreign state in question (Taylor & Finley, 2010).
Assimilation is a process that a number of immigrants into a foreign country usually face when being under the influence of a foreign environment. Similar to acculturation, assimilation is its final stage, when an immigrant actually loses his or her national identity and defines him- or herself as a representative of the culture that was foreign to him or her prior to immigration (Gui, Berry & Zheng, 2011).
Christian Migrant Association, or Redlands Christian Migrant Association, is an organization located in Redlands, Florida, which provides assistance to the people who have recently moved into the United States and feel uncertain about their perspectives. Targeted particularly at helping children, RCMA offers extensive help in terms of childcare and education, therefore, helping immigrants search for an appropriate job and provide for their families (Estabrook, 2012).
Christian mission is a mission of the members of the Christian Church, which may be aimed at a number of goals that the Christian Church has; however, the phenomenon is traditionally narrowed down to the process of converting people into the Christian religion by promoting Christianity among the target audience. The Christian Mission is not limited to the process of converting people into the Christian faith, though, and also involves spreading awareness of the Christian religion, encouraging religious literacy among people, etc. (Yu, 2012).
Diaspora is a community of immigrants, migrant workers, or any other group of people who are living temporarily or have moved recently to another country. Originally denoting the dispersion of Jewish people in a country other than Israel, at present, the term is used in a more flexible manner and can be applied to practically any community of immigrants who share origins, culture, traditions, etc. (Talib, Sofian, Mohamad, Senin, Kadir, Yusof & Hassan, 2012).
Reference List
Danecker, P. (2013). Rationalities and images underlying labor migration from Bangladesh to Malaysia. International Migration, 51(1), 40–60.
Estabrook, B. (2012). Tomatoland: How modern industrial agriculture destroyed our most alluring fruit. Kanasa City, MI: Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Graeme, H. (2011). Malaysian migration to Australia. Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies, 48(2), 147–174.
Gui, Y., Berry, J. W., & Zheng, Y. (2011). Migrant worker acculturation in China. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36(4), 598–610.
Talib, A. N., Sofian, S., Mohamad, N. A., Senin, A. A., Kadir, H. A.,Yusof H. M., & Hassan, I.-e. (2012). Leveraging Malaysian diaspora for cluster development initiatives. Business Strategy Series, 13(5), 239–247.
Taylor, M. & Finley, D. (2010). Acculturation, assimilation, and retention of international workers in resorts. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(5), 681–692.
Verghis, S. (2010). Missing out on migrant workers. Arrows for Change, 16(1-2), 6.
Yu, T. E. (2012). Malaysia. The Ecumenical Review, 64(2), 196.