9:00 - Welcome Remarks
Robyn Iredale, Director, APMRN
Howard Duncan, Executive Head, Metropolis Project
Richard Bedford, APMRN/Metropolis

Migrants tend to move to areas of strong economic growth. For the most part this shift is toward urban rather than rural areas and to developed rather than developing countries. For developed states the infllux of migrants places significant pressures on the provision of health, education, welfare and housing services. At the same time this concentration of migration in urban areas accompanied by internal migration of citizens of both developed and developing states from rural areas to cities. The result is a general depopulation of rural regions and possible overcrowding in cities. This session examines global and national perspectives on problems associated with urban concentrations using examples from Europe, North America, Japan and Australia.

9:30 "Policy interventions to encourage settlement patterns in Australia", Neil Mullenger - Director, Research Section, Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA)

10:00 Yngve Lithman, Metropolis member - Norway

10:30 Coffee Break

11:00 "Migration and urban concentrations in Australia", Ian Burnley, University of New South Wales, Sydney

11:30 Carmen Hall - Canada (presentation)

12:00 Questions and discussion of themes raised in session 1.

12:45 Lunch

One of the most prominent factors in international migration is the increasing role played by skilled migration. Flows of unskilled migrants towards many developed states, a factor often crucial in establishing national infrastructure through capital works, have been supplemented by highly trained skilled migrants from both the developed and the developing world. This situation has now created competition between developed states and all vying for the services of skilled migrants, especially in the business, information technology, financial health and education sectors. This session examines the policies and incenties offered by states to attract skilled migrants and the implications for other parts of national immigration programs, particularly the family reunion and humanitarian sectors.

2:00 Louis Grignon - Canada

2:30 "Patterns and issues of skilled migration in the Asia pacific region: internatinal competition, impacts on source regions and the global perspective", Robin Iredale, University of Wollongong. (Presentation)

3:00 "Skilled Migrants returning Home?", Fei Guo, Macquarie University

3:30 Coffee Breaks

4:00 "Picking Winners": The transformation of Australia's skilled Migration Policy, Lesleyanne Hawthorne, University of Melbourne.

4:30 Marylin Little (New Zealand)

5:00 Question and Discussion of themes raised in session 2

With some population rates in the developed world falling close to zero or even negative growth, migration has historically been seen as a method by which national populations may be augmented. Resultant population increases come both from a net increase in migrant numbers and the possibility of higher rates of childbirth among migrant communities. With skilled migrants forming a major part of migration programs, the transitory nature of their stay - often contingent on employee sponsorship - creates some problems for national policy makers as settlement may not be in the long term plans of skilled migrants. At the same time the lack of opportunity for unskilled migrants, many of whom may wish to settle, raise families and start a new life in another country, removes the traditional policy response to supplement falling birth rates in the developed world. Contemporary national immigration policy needs to be able to find a way between its desire for the capacities of skilled migrants, the desires of those migrants who wish to remain to have their families migrate and the possibility that skilled migrants may not add significantly to national population growth. This session explores these issues from international and national perspectives. It incorporates parts of the Asia Pacific where states are making little or no attempt to control or manage migration outcomes.

9:00 Keiko Osaki, UN Population Division, New York (Presentation)

9:30 "Philippine International LaboR Migration Policy: Its Evolution and Futirre Direction", Stella Go, De La Salle Uni, Manila.

10:00 Abul Rizvi, First Assistant Secretary, Migration and temporary Entry Division, Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA)

10:30 Coffee Break

10:45 Migration trends and migration policies in the Pacific islands" Paul Spoonley, A/New Zealand Coordinator

11:15 "In search of a migration policy framework : Bangladesh", Tasneem Siddiqui, Bangladesh

11:45 Richard Bedford, New Zealand (Presentation)

12:15 Questions and discussion of themes raised in session 3

The final session examines current moves toward the international management of movements of people and identifies some of the more pressing issues in migration policy. Specifically it concentrates on the lack of bilateral and multicultural agreements for managing migration flows. The international response to the crisis in Afghanistan highlights the difficulty that the UNHCR as 'persons of concern' the actions of individual governments need to be coordinated. The need for regional and international solutions to refugee issues is apparent. The challenge for international collaboration involves the search to identify a just, equitable and culturally appropriate solution for states and people worldwide.

1:45 Alexandre Casella, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Vienna

2:15 "The Berne Initiative", Irene Stacher, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Vienna

2:45 "Europe's efforts in international collaboration", Lynne Hunter, European Commission,s delegation to Australia

3:15 Coffee Break

3:30 "International refugee policies" Eileen Pittaway, The Centre for Refugee Research, University of NSW

4:00 "Multilateral and Bilateral Co-operation Relating to International Migration in Asia: Needs, Possibilities and Prospects", Graeme Hugo, University of Adelaide

4:30 Howard Adelman, Canada (presentation)

5:00 Questions and discussion of themes raised in session 4

5:30 Concluding Remarks