An expert group meeting (EGM) on migration and development was convened from 27 to 29 August at Bangkok, United Nations Conference Centre. Some 14 experts coming from 12 countries and areas in the region participated in the three-day event. Representatives from various United Nations agencies, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations and academic institutions also took part in the meeting.

It was inaugurated by Ms. Thelma Kay, Chief, Emerging Social Issues Division, UNESCAP. In her opening statement, Ms. Kay emphasized that the EGM was a follow-up to the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference. She said that during the past two or three decades, there had been “a rapid increase in international migration, particularly labour migration, from and within the Asian and Pacific region”. She stressed that labour migration in Asia was characterized by an increasing proportion of women. “The large-scale employment of migrant women in some occupations of the service sector indicates that the feminization of migration is virtually an irreversible trend”, she said. Ms. Kay stressed that international migration had a significant impact on the economic development of countries of origin, adding that remittances “and the compound effect they have” would ultimately contribute to poverty reduction in the sending countries.

The EGM elected Ms. Maruja Asis, from the Scalabrini Migration Centre, New Manila, Philippines as Chair, while Mr. Bal Kumar KC, Professor and Head, Central Department of Population Studies, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu was elected as Vice-Chair. Mr. Ronald Skeldon, Professorial Fellow at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom served as Rapporteur.

The primary objective of the meeting was to further explore and understand the relationship between internal and international migration and development, focusing especially on gender, poverty and health. This very purpose was served in particular by the preparation and presentation of a background paper (see below), and the ensuing discussions.

The participants discussed several other issues under the theme, such as statistics of internal migration and the current status of migration is East Asia, the role of migration in poverty reduction (with reference especially to Bangladesh, China, the Philippines and Viet Nam) and internal migration (based on examples from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri Lanka). International migration and related dimensions were also on the agenda, with several situations reviewed such as unskilled Thai migrant workers in Japan, Filipino domestic workers in Singapore, and cases in Indonesia, Fiji and India.

A set of recommendations was prepared as the outcome of the meeting that will provide guidelines for UNESCAP’s future work programme.