Migration Policy Institute Podcasts

The two-day Bali Forum’s concluding session discusses the “Bali Commitment on Skill Mobility in ASEAN,” a joint statement of organizations and institutions in the region identifying areas for reform and where coordinated regional action is needed and can be most effective in terms of increasing the movement of skilled professionals within the ASEAN region—a key goal of the ASEAN Economic Community. The Bali Forum was organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Migration Policy Institute (MPI) to launch a joint initiative on the mobility of skilled labor in the ASEAN region. Chairs included Imelda Nicolas, Chairperson of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas; Demetrios G. Papademetriou, President Emeritus of MPI and President of MPI Europe; and Rana Hasan, Director of the Development Economics and Indicators Division in the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department at ADB.

This discussion at the Bali Forum, kicking off a joint initiative between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Migration Policy Institute (MPI), addresses questions pertaining to labor recruiting practices, foreign qualifications, and how policymakers can make the status quo more employer-friendly. Panelists include Tan Sri Dr. Munir Majid, Chairman of CIMB ASEAN Research Institute; and Supang Chantavanich, Honored Professor of Sociology and Director of the Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM) at Chulalongkorn University; with host Ronald Skeldon, Professorial Fellow in Geography at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research.

This session from the Bali Forum features an in-depth conversation with national delegates on the barriers ASEAN member governments face in implementing mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) in job sectors identified for greater movement of skilled workers within ASEAN, and their plans for fully addressing them beyond 2015. The Bali Forum was organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), as part of a joint initiative which aims to reduce barriers to the free flow of skilled labor amongst countries in ASEAN.

The second day of the Bali Forum, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), started with a conversation exploring skill mobility’s impact on regional development and competitiveness. The panel discusses what the ASEAN region stands to gain from adopting a more comprehensive approach to facilitating skill mobility. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Vice President Hiroshi Kato draws insights from JICA's experience in the Asia-Pacific region while Lurong Chen, Economist at the Economic Research Institute for Asia and East Asia, and Ron Skeldon, Professorial Fellow in Geography at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research, explore lessons for ASEAN from other subregions in Asia and beyond.

This session of the Bali Forum, organized by the Asian Development Bank and the Migration Policy Institute, focuses on the progress on the implementation of the ASEAN Qualification Reference Framework (AQRF) and of the mutual referencing process with National Qualification Frameworks (NQFs). Focusing on the areas of tourism, architecture, engineering, medicine, nursing, and dentistry, panelists explore how developments in AQRF and NQFs can support the implementation of mutual recognition arrangements that will facilitate the flow of skilled labor in the ASEAN region. The panelists are Zita Mohd Fahmi, Special Quality Assurance (QA) Consultant, Malaysian Qualifications Agency, and Secretary, ASEAN Quality Assurance Network Executive Board; and Panya Chanthavong, Deputy Director, Educational Standards and Quality Assurance Centre, Ministry of Education and Sports. The conversation was led by Megawati Santoso, Vice-Chair, ASEAN Task Force on ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework.

This session of the Bali Forum, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), explores progress toward smoother skills transfers between countries in the ASEAN region—highlighting the challenges that remain toward the full recognition of qualifications and credentials in several of the ASEAN mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) target occupations. ASEAN-level coordinating committee chairs and sectoral leaders share the key areas of progress and challenges in implementing the MRAs and MRA Frameworks, and the ASEAN Secretariat Director for Market Integration, Ho Quang Trung, offers comments. Panelists included Yolanda D. Reyes, Chair of the ASEAN Architect Council (AAC), Leandro A. Conti, Chair of the ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineering Coordinating Committee (ACPECC), Nirwan Noh, Undersecretary of the Industry Development Division at the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Estelita C. Aguirre, Chair of the ASEAN Federation of Accountants, and Ho Quang Trung, Director for Market Integration Directorate in the ASEAN Secretariat. Maria Vincenza Desiderio, a Policy Analyst at MPI Europe provided an overview presentation, and Lesleyanne Hawthorne, Professor, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne acted as Chairperson.

This lunch conversation at the Bali Forum, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), examines the mobility of students in the region and takes a longer-term view by exploring prospects in developing ASEAN-wide regional standards within national training and education systems. The panel also highlights good practices in the field of Quality Assurance, exploring how best to strengthen mutual recognition of degrees and deepen trust among universities in the region. The panelists are Nantana Gajaseni, Executive Director of the ASEAN University Network, and Siow Yue Chia, Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, with host Fernando T. Aldaba, Professor of Economics at Ateneo de Manila University.

This session of the Bali Forum, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), features a panel discussion on the preliminary findings from two original studies: (i) MPI research systematically examining cross-border talent flows within ASEAN and (ii) ADB’s forward-looking, quantitative analysis examining the future supply and demand of workers in the eight target occupations in ASEAN. The discussion starts with a focus on major labor mobility patterns in the region, and how they have evolved over time. The panelists are Guntur Sugiyarto, Senior Economist at ADB, and Jeanne Batalova, Senior Policy Analyst at MPI, with Chairperson L. Alan Winters, Professor of Economics, University of Sussex, and former Chief Economist, Department for International Development (DFID). 

Panelists Imelda Nicolas, Chairperson of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Rana Hasan, the Director of the Development Economics and Indicators Division in the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department at ADB, Ong Keng Yong, Former Secretary General of ASEAN and Executive Deputy Chairman, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and Demetrios G. Papademetriou, President Emeritus of MPI and President of MPI Europe, along with host Simon Long, “Banyan” Editor at The Economist, at the Bali Forum, convened by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Migration Policy Institute (MPI), discuss the progress that has been made toward genuine circulation of skilled workers within the ASEAN region. The conversation highlights the technical, institutional, and political challenges faced by greater mobility, how to overcome these challenges, and where coordinated regional action is most needed. 

The forum started with a presentation of the Issue Paper on “Achieving Skill Mobility in the ASEAN Economic Community: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications,” a joint Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Migration Policy Institute (MPI) publication. The paper focuses on the challenges and barriers to achieving the ASEAN Economic Community’s goal of freer movement for skilled professionals within ASEAN by the end of 2015. Demetrios G. Papademetriou, President Emeritus of MPI and President of MPI Europe, discussed the issue paper’s key points while Rana Hasan, the Director of the Development Economics and Indicators Division in the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department at ADB, shared insights from ADB’s perspective.

These welcoming remarks introduce the themes and objectives of the Bali Forum on Skill Mobility in ASEAN, which took place on September 28-29, 2015 in Bali, Indonesia. The forum’s objective was the launch of a joint initiative between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) to better understand the barriers to the freer movement of professionals within ASEAN and develop strategies to gradually overcome these hurdles. During this recording, remarks are offered by ADB Vice President Bambang Susantono; Takuro Tasaka, the Counsellor of Economic Affairs of the Embassy of Japan in Indonesia; Imelda Nicolas, Chairperson of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas; and MPI President Michael Fix.

In this webinar, the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy and other national experts discussed patchwork tuition policies, their implications for unauthorized immigrant youth seeking two- and four-year college degrees, and the progress of major new proposals being considered by states this year. The webinar will also mark the release of updated information on the college access, tuition, and financial aid policies in the top 15 states for youth potentially eligible to apply for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In addition, hear about the new round of scholarships available from TheDream.US, the largest provider of scholarships for youth with DACA or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) who cannot afford to pay for college.

Adult English language, education, citizenship/civics, and workforce training services are critical in supporting the economic, linguistic, and civic integration of immigrants and refugees. Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs and the state partnership and investments they require comprise the central architecture for provision of these crucial services in communities across the United States. In this discussion, experts discussed aspects of the law that will likely limit prospects for immigrants and refugees to receive English language and other services they may need, serious weaknesses in WIOA regulations proposed by the Obama administration that will govern implementation of crucial services for immigrant integration, and strategies that may help ensure more equitable access for immigrants and refugees to services provided under the law.

The IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific launched the 14th Issue in Brief in a series from MPI and IOM, which focused on left-behind children of Asian labor migrants. This event explores the social and health impacts of international labor migration on the children who remain at home when one or both their parents emigrate. The launch was attended by several representatives from diplomatic missions and UN agencies, including the embassies of Bangladesh, the Philippines, and UNICEF.

In two new reports, the Migration Policy Institute and The Urban Institute review the literature examining the effects of parental deportation on children and the broader community and report the results of field visits to five communities with large numbers of parental deportations.In this discussion, MPI authors discuss the effects of parental deportation on the children of immigrants, and the related needs for health and social services. Panelists will discuss U.S. policy responses to protect these children, community responses, and possible directions for future research and policies.

With refugee arrivals continuing on a scale unprecedented in recent history, the European Union is struggling to deliver a humane, sustainable response that will have the support of all of its Member States. MPI Europe, as part of a joint project on asylum in the EU with the Open Society Foundations, brought together senior officials from some of the Member States to discuss their differing perspectives on the current crisis. They considered what is needed to ensure a unified, practically feasible response to the biggest crisis that has faced the Common European Asylum System since its inception.

Join the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) for an expert discussion on the findings of the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), including data that illustrate that the workforce on U.S. crop farms, which is composed largely of unauthorized Mexican immigrants, is aging and increasingly settled in the United States. Panelists provided an overview of farm labor in 2015; discussed trends demonstrated by the NAWS; and examined how fading prospects for comprehensive immigration reform, the expansion of the H-2A program, and possible eligibility for deferred action programs may impact the agricultural workforce. The discussion also included an analysis of possible future policies that could impact immigrant workers in the agricultural sector.

This discussion explored the tensions facing asylum systems in Europe and North America, and asked what tools governments have at their disposal to respond proactively to forced displacement and reduce its costs for refugees and host communities alike. Where and when should governments focus their protection investments to have the most impact? What actors and stakeholders need to be engaged, both within a government and internationally? What lessons can be drawn from responses to past asylum flows? 

While the effects of discrimination against immigrant adolescents and adults have been the subject of much study, discrimination’s impacts on young children of immigrants has gone largely unexamined. During this webinar, three scholars explored the educational, psychological, and social impact of discrimination on immigrant-origin children from birth to age 10. The three presenters discussed the types of discrimination that young children of immigrants may experience, particularly in the school setting, and its consequences for children, their families, and schools. The presenters also offered recommendations for addressing discrimination in school settings and explored ways to promote family and child resilience in the face of discrimination.

On this webinar, marking the release of an MPI report on these topics, authors presented an overview of regional immigration enforcement trends, including U.S. and Mexican apprehensions and deportations of both children and adults, along with a demographic, socioeconomic, and criminal profile of child and adult deportees. The researchers presented their analysis of how Mexico’s growing enforcement efforts are impacting migration from Central America to the United States, and discussed migration policies that establish workable enforcement and humanitarian protection.