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The MOST Programme's ASIA PACIFIC MIGRATION RESEARCH NETWORK (APMRN) held its first annual conference in Bangkok from 11-13 March 1996. The network is comprised of research teams from the following countries: Australia, Indonesia, Fiji, New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, and the People's Democratic Republic of China. The objectives of the conference which were as follows: · to obtain the commitment of each official delegate to work toward establishing a national migration research network (if this has not already been achieved); · to discuss and agree upon a common workplan and schedule of activities; · to design an effective administrative structure for the network · to explain and agree upon UNESCO's role in the APMRN and particularly the necessity for establishing close ties with the UNESCO national commissions of each country; · to determine funding possibilities for the network; · to determine a satisfactory publication strategy for the network; · to identify migration training and educational needs in the APMRN member countries; The morning of the first day was devoted to the presentation Country-level Issues Papers. These will be published by UNESCO as the first volume of the MOST-APMRN and will be available from the MOST Secretariat as of August 1996. This resulted in the group agreeing on four themes 4 themes that capture a number of significant contemporary research issues in migration studies, which have relevance for both academic and policy-oriented inquiry into social, political and environmental dimensions of migration and increasing ethno-cultural diversity in the Asia-Pacific region. Each country will participate in the theme or themes pertinent to its particular migration problems. Agreement was reached, by all national teams on the following APMRN workplan, 1996-1998: · an elaboration, in theoretical and policy oriented terms of dynamics of major migration systems (including undocumented migration) operating within the Asia-Pacific region, with particular reference to social an a political dimensions of globalisation. This broad theme could incorporate a comprehensive survey of current migration policies in the region with regard to their impacts on short-term and long-term human resource transfers at national, regional and global levels. A particular publication output from this research initiative could be a special issue of the Asian and Pacific Migration Journal - a journal which has already published leading papers on the transformation of migration systems in the region. · an exploration of population mobility in the region in terms of the policy implications of an increasing mis-match between what local societies and environments can sustain, and the demands placed on these societies and environments by essentially transient populations. Flows of relevance here include tourism, short-term labour circulation, contract labour migration, · circulation of highly-skilled employees of multinational companies, and possibly some of the return flows in the Pacific Islands and Asia One idea underlying this research initiative is the consequences for people and places of temporary transfers of people from essentially low per capita resource consumption societies to societies where resource consumption is high (e.g. contract labour migration between Thailand and Taiwan, or population movement between Tonga and New Zealand). Another idea is the increasing pressure which exponential growth in short-term circulation, especially that associated with tourism is having on natural environments (scenic areas, naturereserves, national parks, etc.) A particular publication output from this research initiative would be a UNESCO Press report or book (possibly published with the support of UNFPA, given the links between this theme and the post-Cairo ICPD Plan of Action. This will be followed up by Richard Bedford from New Zealand, who has done extensive work in the past with UNFPA). There may also be links with the MAB Programme and the MOST Secretariat could consider a joint publication with MAB. · research on the consequences of international migration for inter-group relations including relations with indigenous peoples with particular reference to the policy implications of increasing ethnic diversity for concepts of citizenship, the rights of migrants and their families in both countries of destination and origin, and the significance of social networks for the emigration process. A particular publication output from this research initiative could be a special issue of the ISSJ · research on the consequences of international migration for international migration (including return migration) and entrepreneurial activity in receiving and sending countries, with particular reference to both small-scale enterprises (including the operation of flea markets) and the activities of multinational companies. The roles of immigration policy, social networks and economic development plans/strategies at the national level would be highlighted in this research. A particular publication output from this research initiative could be a special issue of the Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, or the journal Asia-Pacific viewpoint (formerly Pacific Viewpoint), edited t the Victoria University of Wellington and now published by Basil Blackwell (UK) Through out the APMRN's stages of work there will be seminars and training programmes both for policy-makers and academics. An effort will be made to communicate migration issues through public media, such as newspapers, magazines and press releases.

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