International Seminar on
Migration and Development in the Age of Globalization

Organised by: Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS), Dhaka
Supported by: International Organization Migration (IOM)

16th February, 2006
BIAM Conference Room
63, New Eskaton Road, Dhaka-lOOO

Programme

9:00: Registration

9:30 - 11:00: Inaugural Session

Welcome Address
Prof. Ishrat Shamim, President, CWCS

Keynote Presentation:
Migration and the Millennium Development Goals
Mr. Md. Shahidul Haque, Regional Representative for South Asia International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Chief Guest:
Prof. S.M.A. Faiz, Vice Chancellor, University of Dhaka

Guest of Honour:
Mr. Hemayet Uddin, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

Special Guest:
Dr. Stefan Frowein, Head, Delegation of the European Commission in Bangladesh

Chair:
Prof. K.A.M. Saaduddin, Former Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka

11:00: Tea

11:30 - 13:00: Plenary Session: Paper Presentations

Chair: Prof. Dr. Nazrul Islam, Department of Sociology, University of Dhaka

Headscarves, Forced Marriages, Honour Killings: Migration to Germany as a Challenge for Cultural Values
Dr. Birgit Häse, Director, Centre for East Asian Studies, Dresden University of Technology, Germany
View abstract

The Right to Go, Stay, Work and Play: A Human Rights Perspective on Migration in Ireland
John Lannon, Euro-Asia Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland
View abstract

Open Discussion

13:00 Lunch

14:00 - 16:00: Plenary Session: Paper Presentations (cont.)

Educational Bias, Out-Migration and Economic Performance in Tibet Autonomous Region
Prof. Dr. Bernadette Andreosso-O'Callaghan, Director, Euro-Asia Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland
View abstract

Dominant Migrants - Migrant's Culture, Settlement and Identity in Taiwan
Dr. Carsten Storm, Centre for East Asian Studies, Dresden University of Technology, Germany
View abstract

Technology Spill Over in the Chinese Automotive Market
Prof. Dr. Fanchen Meng, School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, China
View abstract

Open Discussion

16:00: Concluding Session: Wrap up & Vote of Thanks

16:30: Tea

Abstracts of ICCD team members

Headscarves, Forced Marriages, Honour Killings: Migration to Germany as a Challenge for Cultural Values

Since the 1950s the West German society was enlarged and ethnically diversified by the immigration of people coming from all over the world, mostly from other European countries including Turkey. The fact of Germany’s being a country of immigration was politically denied, integration was not an issue. Until the end of the 1990s, migrant communities often did not feel accepted and tended to seclude themselves from the German host society. This was caused by a conglomerate of a restrictive naturalization law, the ongoing unwillingness of the government to establish an integration policy, the exclusion of migrant communities from the possibility of political participation, and declining working opportunities. The presentation will focus on ethnic Turks as Germany’s largest immigrant community to illustrate some controversial debates on cultural values thereby explaining the process of forming a multi cultural German society.

Dr. Birgit Häse, Director, Centre for East Asian Studies, Dresden University of Technology, Germany

The Right to Go, Stay, Work and Play: A Human Rights Perspective on Migration in Ireland

Economists argue that economic and social development has a major influence on migration. The structure of the world market, built on a foundation of core and peripheral countries, causes movements of capital and goods in search of land, raw materials and markets. In the past this was driven by colonial regimes; now multinational corporations and neo-colonial governments are facilitating these movements of goods and capital. International flows of labour follows the flows of goods and capital, but in the opposite direction. Consequently migration is often interpreted as a natural outgrowth of capitalist development.

Sudden changes in the political or environmental situation may also precipitate migration. Movements of people may be involuntary, although in an increasingly informed world, they are rarely unpredictable. There are generally interdependencies between sending and receiving areas, with networks playing an important role in determining the nature and patterns of migration.

The emergence of networks gives rise to an even broader type of theory, a “system” view that incorporates not just flows of capital and goods and individual decision-making, but also includes migrant networks, connections between sending and receiving countries, and political and cultural influences. However, despite the adoption of this holistic approach in the early 1970’s, there has been little attention to the role of human rights in international migration flows until very recently- apart, that is, from the area of forced migration in which consideration has been given to human rights abuse as both a determinant and potential consequence.

There is now a growing number of policy documents relating to the rights of all migrants in receiving countries. There is also a recognition of the fact that migration workers often face situations of poor housing, hazardous working conditions and social disruption, and restricted access to disease prevention, detection and treatment. They are a particularly vulnerable population, but they have been low, and often even invisible, on the international human rights agenda. Although this neglect is now being reversed in a number of areas- for example, through the UN’s Convention on Migrant Workers- the challenge of enforcing human rights at a national level and integrating human rights into international migration governance discussions remains difficult and urgent.

This paper looks at how the migration policy and practice of one country of net immigration, Ireland, takes cognisance of human rights issues. It first looks at how migration and human rights intersect, starting with the country of origin and the “push” factors that trigger migration. Following this, it examines the granting of rights to migrants by the country of origin. Migration flows from and to Ireland are then described; this looks at its progression from a country of net emigration to one of net immigration in the 1990’s, and makes reference to the current European context in which Ireland’s policy is formulated. Finally, an analysis is presented of how migration policy and practice in Ireland now measure up in terms of human rights, based on legal and moral obligations to promote and protect the rights of migrants living, or in a minority of cases in Ireland, in transit, through its territory.

John Lannon, Euro-Asia Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland

Educational Bias, Out-migration and Economic Performance in Tibet Autonomous Region

Putting the phenomenon of out-migration from Tibet autonomous Region (TAR) against the familiar migration conceptual frameworks (starting with the neo-classical theory), this article suggests that the case of the TAR is unique in that it is characterized by out-migration for education as a means of economic viability and cultural survival. Using the sparse and incomplete statistical information that can be found, the article then reviews the (economic) causes for out-migration, by focusing on education, and it proposes some insights into the issue of the returns of educated emigrants, with an attempted appraisal of economic performance in the TAR.

Prof. Dr. Bernadette Andreosso-O'Callaghan, Director, Euro-Asia Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland

Dominant Migrants - Migrant's Culture, Settlement and Identity in Taiwan

Taiwan has a remarkable history of immigration. Almost everybody living on Taiwan today can be regarded as a descendent of one of the major migration waves: Austronesian, Hoklo, Hakka, Japanese, and Mainlanders, to name but the most important.

In the course of the "cultural studies" project, migration and settlement of "newcomers" is often dealt with in terms of marginalisation and vulnerability of the respective migrant groups. The host society on the other hand is mostly interpreted as the dominant power denying the migrant's rights, their participation in society, and opportunities to maintain their own culture. The case of Taiwan, however, differs from that matrix since it had always been the migrant groups who after an exceptionally short period succeeded to obtain the dominant position on the island. For some reason marginalisation on Taiwan relates rather to the "host" society. It is a truism, that (im)migration, both short term stays as well as long term settlement, has a strong impact on identity issues and in the case of Taiwan, the heritage of migration obviously maintains to influence the society's self awareness.

Additionally, Taiwan as a de facto independent entity is a "new nation" - like Singapore, Ireland, Bangladesh, Israel among others - and it faces severe problems in determining - if not "inventing" - her national identity at the borderline of external and internal challenges (Taiwan vs. China and UNO, waisheng ren vs. bendi ren vs. yuanzhu min, Chineseness vs. Taiwaneseness, global vs local etc.). Most of these threats are constructed as dichotomies thereby reducing the identity problem to a mere battle of competing choices as if both were in themselves consistent and ready to be adopted.

The essay analyses the Taiwanese recent identity debate under the framework of migration issues and the strategic use of the postmodern discourse of marginalisation. Both, especially the phenomenon of "dominant" migration and the self consciousness of the debate on national identity, are contributing to some features in the - currently almost obsessive - Taiwanese quest for identity. These features consist of the very specific mixture of political, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural aspects, the borders of inclusion and exclusion in the construction of a Taiwanese "we", the intransigence, sometimes even harshness, and the nervousness of the debate. The specific migrant heritage of Taiwan will be employed to explain these traits.

Dr. Carsten Storm, Centre for East Asian Studies, Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Technology Spill Over in the Chinese Automotive Market

Foreign Direct Investment plays a major role in the economic development of countries. One of the key factors of influence is the transfer of new technology to local firms, pushing domestic market competitiveness. China has, during the past 25 years, adopted a policy of opening up the domestic markets to attract foreign money and technology and is by now the second largest recipient of foreign capital. One of the most important sectors is the automotive industry, as it generates both employment and linkage effects on other industries. It is also subject to a very large amount of foreign investment. This paper studies the occurrence of technology transfer via foreign direct investment in the car industry of China. A simple productivity model, using the ideas of Total Factor Productivity, is developed to represent the fond assumptions. The findings, while ambiguous, support the theoretical assumptions that FDI, in the form of technology transfer, is of beneficial influence on domestic companies.

Prof. Dr. Fanchen Meng, School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, China

last update: 2006/11/16

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