Asia Pacific Migration Research Network
(APMRN)
Web address – apmrn.anu.edu.au
The APMRN was established in
1995 by Stephen Castles and Robyn
Iredale with funding from the
UNESCO-MOST (Management of
Social Transformations) Programme.
UNESCO continues to fund the
network through various projects.
The Secretariat was located at the
University of Wollongong until 2003
and then moved to Australian Centre
for Population Research at the
Australian National University,
Canberra.
The central focus of the APMRN is
the long-term role of migration and
increased ethno-cultural diversity as
major factors in the social
transformation of the societies of the
Asia Pacific region. The aim has been
to build an international research
network that will carry out
interdisciplinary research on social
and political aspects of international
migration and growing ethno-
cultural diversity in the region.
The APMRN has helped build
research capabilities, develop
empirical knowledge, further
theoretical and methodological work
in the social sciences, and provide
broadly-based and reliable
information and options for policy-
makers at the national and
international levels.
1
It currently has 16 member
countries/economies in:
 NE Asia (South Korea, Japan,
China and Republic of China -
unofficial);
 SE Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand);
 South Asia (Bangladesh, India
and Sri Lanka), and
 the Pacific (Australia, New
Zealand and Fiji - covering the
whole Pacific).
The APMRN is looking to expand in
2006 to encompass Mongolia, Nepal
and Afghanistan.
Names of coordinators for each
member of the APMRN can be found
on the website. These people rotate
at times and in some countries there
are up to four coordinators because
of the size and scope of migration
research that the APMRN covers.
Coordinators are mainly researchers
but in recent years the APMRN has
sought to actively involve NGOs and
International Organizations.
The Chair of the APMRN is rotated
every two years and currently is
Professor Paul Spoonley of Massey
University, New Zealand. Deputy
Chairs exist for each of NE Asia, SE
Asia, South Asia and the Pacific and
are consulted on major decisions
affecting the network. Most
communication is by email.
Recent Research
1) A major project commissioned
by UNESCO in 2003:
Identification of the Obstacles to
the Signing and Ratification of
the UN Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers 1990: The Asia
Pacific Perspective (Piper and
Iredale, 2003). (Available on
APMRN website)
2) UNDP Regional
Empowerment and Action to
Contain HIV/AIDS, Delhi,
contracted a project on
Migration and HIV
Vulnerability in South and
North East Asia: A Background
Paper in 2003. The team
consisted of Robyn Iredale,
Swati Ghosh (India), Sung Ho
Ko and Jungwhan Lee
(Korea), Ren Qiang and
Zheng Zhenzhen (China),
Tasneem Siddiqui
(Bangladesh) and Joe
Weeramunda (Sri Lanka).
This report was important in
leading up to preparation by
UNDP for the UN HIV/AIDS
conference that was held in
Bangkok in September 2004.
A new program/action
project has flowed from our
research and Zheng Zhenzhen
is involved in this in N. China.
Report of the project, No
Safety Signs Here (2004), is
available on APMRN website.
3) Evaluation of the Impact of
Ratification of the ICMR: Case
2
studies of the Philippines and Sri
Lanka undertaken from late
2004 to mid-2005 by Robyn
Iredale, Nicola Piper and
Amelia Ancog (consultant in
the Philippines) for UNESCO.
The report is on the APMRN
website.
4) Promoting a Process to Develop
Action Plans for Bangladesh,
Korea and New Zealand to
encourage them to ratify the
1990 UN Convention is
currently being undertaken
for UNESCO.
5) Identification of the Obstacles to
the Signing and Ratification of
the UN Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers 1990 in China
for UNESCO in 2005. A
similar project will be
undertaken in Australia in
2006.
Publications
The APMRN’s publications include
15 Working Papers, newsletters,
books (including 3 Edward Elgar
books) and many other regional and
national reports.
A) Recent Working Papers:
 Working Paper 12: Papers from
the Fiji Conference, edited by C.
Voigt-Graf and K. Lyon, 2003;
 Working Paper 13:
Implications for Policy and
Training of the ‘Gender,
Migration and Governance’
Conference, K. Yamanaka, R.
Iredale and N. Piper, 2003;
  Working Paper 14:
Identification of the Obstacles to
the Signing and Ratification of
the UN Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers 1990: The Asia
Pacific Perspective, Nicola
Piper and Robyn Iredale,
December 2003.
 Working Paper 15 (website):
Impact of Ratifying the 1990 UN
Convention on the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members
of Their Family: Case Studies of
the Philippines and Sri Lanka,
Robyn Iredale, Nicola Piper
and Amelia Ancog, 2005.
B) Other reports/journal special
editions, etc
 Global Networks Special Issue
on 'Asian Transnational
Families', Volume 5, Number
4, October 2005, Blackwell
Publishing, This special issue,
edited by Brenda S.A. Yeoh,
Shirlena Huang and Theodora
Lam, includes articles
presented at the
NUS/APMRN International
Workshop on 'Asian
Transnational Families',
Singapore, 2-4 February, 2005.
 Revista CIDOB d’AFERS
INTERNATIOCIONALS, 68
December 2004- Ener0 2005,
ISSN: 1133-6595 – which
contains articles by Rogelia
Pe-Pua, Nasra M. Shah, Xiang
Biao and Graziano Battistella.
 Migration and HIV
Vulnerability in South and
3
North East Asia: A Background
Paper, 2004, Delhi: UNDP
Regional Empowerment and
Action to Contain HIV/AIDS.
 C) Article in UNESCO’s
International Journal of Social
Science, 2004 – on the Link
Between Migration Research
and Policy.
 D) Special edition of Asia
Pacific Migration Journal in
2003 (Vol 12, No. 1-2) titled
Gender Migration and
Governance in Asia, edited by
Nicola Piper and Keiko
Yamanaka, came out in 2003
with a selection of papers
from the conference held in
December 2002.
Conferences
APMRN international conferences
are held every 18-24 months and the
8th conference is planned for 2007.
Previous conferences have been held
in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo,
Manila, Suva, Singapore and Seoul.
Conferences have been sponsored by
the Participation Programme of
UNESCO, the National University of
Singapore and Japanese foundations.
Smaller conferences are also
arranged by APMRN members when
appropriate (see below).
APMRN members also participate in
other activities: Metropolis, the
International Organization for
Migration (IOM), Global
Commission on International
Migration (GCIM), United Nations
and other fora as appropriate. Some
specific examples are:
 RRMMU/DFID conference in
Bangladesh on Sustainable
Return Migration, 7-8 March
2005 (organised by RMMRU)
 Human Movements and
Immigration (HMI)
Congress, Barcelona, Sept
2004.
 International Migration and
the International Relations
Implications, Barcelona
workshop, 6 September 2004.
 Berne Initiative
Consultations on
International Migration
Management, China, 2004.
 UN Global Commission on
International Migration
(GMIC) Consultation
Processes, 2004 & 2005.
 World Bank/OECD/IOM
meeting on Migration and
Trade, October 2004, Geneva.
 APC annual meeting in Nadi,
Fiji in November 2004.
 UNCTAD meeting on Trade
in Services (Gats Mode 4),
July 2003, Geneva.
 Ministerial Consultations on
Labour Migration Policies in
Asia, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1-3
April 2003.
 Thai/IOM Consultations on
labour migration policies,
Bangkok, December 2003.
Reputation
The APMRN is very highly regarded
internationally and in the region as a
network of competent migration
researchers who work together and
individually on a wide range of
projects.
Members have received project and
conference/workshop funding from
Ford Foundation, Japan Foundation,
UNESCO, UNDP, IOM, Australia
National Commission for UNESCO,
other national commissions for
UNESCO, universities and other
bodies.
Further Information
The APMRN Secretariat welcomes
visitors to the website and invites
NGOs, governments and others to
utilise the services of our researchers.
Direct contact can be made with
individual coordinators whose email
addresses are available on the
website. Alternatively, the
Secretariat can be contacted as
follows:
Secretariat Director: Robyn Iredale,
robyn.iredale@anu.edu.au
Secretariat Coordinator: Namuunda
Mutombo
Namuunda.Mutombo@anu.edu.au
ACPR Director: Siew-Ean Khoo
siewean.khoo@anu.edu.au