New Article
Migrant workers, climate, and constraint
Behind the scenes of Saudi Arabia’s labour engine
Read the ArticlePhoto Credit: © Faisal Nasser / Reuters, 2014
New Paper
Protection and assistance for Afghans in mixed migration
Insights from 4Mi data on Afghans en route to Pakistan and Türkiye
Read the PaperMohammad Osman Azizi/IOM 2023
New research report
Smuggling dynamics to & within Türkiye
Insights from Afghans, Syrians & Pakistanis on the move
Read the reportPhoto by Mesut Varol / Anadolu Agency, 2021
About MMC’s work in Asia and the Pacific
MMC engages in data collection, research, analysis and policy development on mixed migration in Asia and the Pacific.
Our primary objectives are to fill the knowledge gap on mixed migration in the region; to inform programming for migrants, particularly in the area of protection; and to inform policy-making around the rights and protection of people on the move.
MMC’s flagship data collection project ‘4Mi‘ currently operates in Tunisia and Morocco, where a network of enumerators conducts surveys with migrants who have reached Tunisia from across the continent as well as from the Middle East and Asia.
Mixed Migration in Asia and the Pacific
Asia is characterized by fast evolving and complex population movements, including the large-scale and often irregular movement of migrants. Across the region, weak legal protection frameworks result in migrants often being categorized as “irregular” or “illegal” migrants, subjecting them to measures including arrest, detention and deportation as well as increasing their risk of exploitation. Throughout the region many take great risks to escape life-threatening situations, such as conflicts, violence, discrimination or natural disasters, embarking on perilous journeys by land or sea. Others, motivated in search of better opportunities, migrate to work in often dangerous, dirty and demeaning (3D) jobs, exposing them to risks such as exploitation and trafficking. Regardless of their motivations for migration, people moving in mixed migration across Asia travel along similar routes and engage similar means, often travelling irregularly with the assistance of smugglers.

- Insights on Afghans en route to Pakistan and Türkiye
- Paper

- Insights from Afghans, Syrians & Pakistanis on their journeys
- Research report


- Asia and the Pacific, Quarter 1, 2025
- Quarterly Mixed Migration Update

- Asia and the Pacific, Quarter 4, 2024
- Quarterly Mixed Migration Update

- Asia and the Pacific, Quarter 3, 2024
- Quarterly Mixed Migration Update