Globalisation is drawing increasing numbers of workers in developing countries out of rural areas to the cities and overseas, leaving children across Asia in the care of elderly relatives or simply to fend for themselves. 'I think all ascending countries are being affected by this,' said Sajida Ally, an executive committee member of the Migrant Forum in Asia delegation to the World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting and a project co-ordinator for the Asian Migrant Centre based in Hong Kong. Ms Ally said the deregulation introduced by globalisation was accelerating the process. 'The freer the trade of workers becomes, without labour rights to protect them, the more people are going to migrate because they are not educated on what the problems are,' she said. But while governments in countries such as India and the Philippines were actively promoting the export of labour, few were aware of the impact it was having on families and the young. Children of migrants often had trouble at school and more difficulties arose during adolescence, she said. With parents often using money to make up for their absence, children could get a skewed perception of its value. 'Some children of migrants have gone into prostitution,' she said. 'Two countries that have studied the problem are the Philippines and Sri Lanka.'