Programme Note

The 2018 symposium focused on migration-related issues not because they are peculiar to emerging markets but because the growth, cohesion and stability of emerging markets is increasingly important to the world at large and because internal and external migration is an increasingly important determinant of human welfare in these countries.

In light of past discussions and against the background of the fact that emerging markets are facing and will continue to face urgent and critical migration-related issues (e.g. labour migration, forced migration, child migration, female migration, skill and technology transfers, remittances, human rights, national identity, and environmental change) the EMS devoted its ninth symposium to Migration and the Future of Emerging Markets.

The symposium will recommend initiatives that could help resolve issues related to migration to/from/within emerging markets. The recommendations are grounded in presentations and conversations on:

• The history and geography of internal and external migration to/from/within emerging markets.
• Past, present and future problems and opportunities for individuals, communities and countries associated with migration to/from/within emerging markets.
• The roles and responsibilities of government, business and civil society for attitudes, behaviours, policies and practises associated with migration to/from/within emerging markets.

Presentations and conversations covered (but were not limited to):

• Distinctions between:
  • Voluntary and forced migration.
  • Permanent, temporary and circular migration.
  • Migration related to: (i) conflict and physical insecurity; (ii) economic insecurity; (iii) environmental insecurity; and (iv) social and cultural insecurity (political, racial, ethnic, religious and gender discrimination, human rights violations).
• Freedom of movement and human rights.
• Circular migration, integration and re-integration in emerging markets.
• Cultural identity and internal and external migration to/from/within emerging markets.
• Ethics of migration policies in emerging markets.
• Spatial, economic and social mobility and internal migration to emerging market cities.
• Costs, benefits and implications of remittances to/from/within emerging markets.
• International governance of migration.
• Global and regional agreements on rational, humane and sustainable frameworks for migration policies and practises in emerging markets and roles of multilateral institutions in facilitating them.
• Coordinated national governance of migration to/from/within emerging markets.
• Business and civil society attitudes to, and perceptions and understanding of, forced and voluntary migration to/from/within emerging markets.
• Graduate migration to and from emerging markets.
• The roles of richer states in affecting migration policies and realities in emerging markets including (inter alia) efforts by Australia, the EU and its member states and the USA to restrict certain kinds of immigration in collaboration with buffer states, some of which (e.g. Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Tunisia Turkey) are emerging markets. Some sub-Saharan countries are also involved in the context of the EU Migration Partnership Framework.
• Roles of the press and media in building understanding of migration to/from/within emerging markets including distinctions between forced and voluntary migration and the use of ethical, emotional and rational arguments to inform and shape public opinion.

Generic and specific conclusions will be grounded in preceding presentations and conversations on the causes of and possible solutions to current and future issues associated with migration to/from/within emerging markets.

Recommendations on how problems and opportunities could be resolved and captured will be addressed to multilateral institutions, national and local governments multinational/domestic businesses and civil society organizations in emerging markets and in richer and poorer countries.