SECOND
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Over 30
researchers and NGO officials gathered in Hong Kong earlier this year
for the 2nd International Conference of the Asia Pacific Migration
Research Network (APMRN). The three day conference from the 23rd to
25th February, 1998 was held at Hong Kong University with the support
of the University's Center of Asian Studies.
The APMRN,
which receives financial support from UNESCO-MOST, formed in 1995 to
study migration and ethno-cultural diversity in the Asia Pacific
region. Since its inception, the APMRN has worked to develop an
effective operating structure to coordinate international research
initiatives. The network produces a newsletter, a working papers
series, has held a number of national and international conferences and
workshops on migration issues, and established a world wide website to
facilitate communication amongst the eleven countries involved. The
Hong Kong conference reviewed the successes of APMRN's network-building
and how to advance research projects.
The main
aims of the network are to produce research relevant to public policy
and to advance education in migration and ethnicity issues.
Participants at the Hong Kong conference discussed a number of
proposals for research collaboration, many of which have received
funding through UNESCO or from other public and private sector sources.
There are
at least seven research initiatives APMRN members are collaborating on.
The Korean Migration Team, for example, received funding from UNESCO
for a four-country study investigating cross cultural labour relations
and social adjustment of labour migrants. It will involve case studies
of migrant community formation in Korea, and of Koreans in Vietnam,
Indonesia, Philippines and China. The Aotearoa/New Zealand Migration
Research Network was also successful in attracting Participation
Program funds from UNESCO for a project on the environmental dimensions
of migration. The project will focus on Polynesian and Pacific
communities in New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Nuie, Tokelaus
and Tuvalu, researching the socio-environmental changes migrants bring
to host countries. It will examine how community and environment are
transformed in the migration process. This project will explore the
core migrant experiences of employment and consumption and residential
patterns in comparing environments and cultures.
The Asian
regional economic crisis was also a key concern at the Hong Kong
conference. Participants discussed the implications of the crisis for
the huge number of migrants in region, and how governments and
societies were reacting to the downturn in demand for migrant labour.
It is clear that while demand for migrant labour may have subsided, the
desire or pressure to migrate remains. There have already been numerous
reports of deportations and ethnic conflict arising from this
contradiction.
Analysing
the crisis will be a theme that APMRN will develop in coming months. A
proposal by the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils
and supported by the APMRN will address the crisis in detail at a
conference in Manila later this year, again with UNESCO financial input.
While
labour migration is still a central issue of the Network, delegates to
the Hong Kong meeting outlined a number of other areas of concern. The
team of researchers from Thailand, for example, recently studied
HIV/AIDS and the problems of controlling the spread of such diseases in
Thailand's northern border regions where population mobility is high.
Border regions are especially difficult to monitor as people cross back
and forth. Community formation along borders is much more transient,
and conducting research and addressing migration issues is
significantly harder. The Thai researchers are now planning a project
assessing the educational needs of children of migrants in Thailand,
focussing on the Burmese community.
The third
day of the Conference was devoted to papers on legal aspects of
migration. Each of the country delegates presented a paper discussing
issues of citizenship, visa regulations, illegal migrants, the
protection of migrants overseas, and the social and civil rights of
migrants and nationals. Comparing migration regulations and codes among
the many countries of the region highlighted the complexities of
regional population mobility and political processes which govern them.
The papers will be published by the APMRN later this year.
Overall,
there were a range of positive research initiatives presented at the
Hong Kong conference. There was still a need to increase multi-country
collaborations and attract more substantial funding. However, it was
clear from the conference that the APMRN is developing into a solid
platform for cooperation with a coherent research agenda. There are
other international networks and organisations doing similar work. What
distinguishes the APMRN is its approach to migration and ethnic
relations issues with a longer term social scientific perspective.
APMRN members can benefit from the good work being done by other
organisations and extend this within a broader collaborative analytical
framework for research.
Australian
Workshop on Migration and the Asian Crisis
APMRN Wins UNESCO Participation Program Grants
Migration Conference in Manila Addresses the Asian Crisis
APMRN Update #5
