In this third regional consultations of the Bern Initiative the participants emphasized that while migration is not new, a turning point has been reached for two principal reasons : (1) the reality of a mobile world, and (2) the fact that most countries are no longer exclusively countries of origin, transit or destination but more often now, all three simultaneously. This new understanding and acknowledgement that migration is a fact of modern life and that all countries are in it together, brings new possibilities for the development of a common platform on migration based on cooperation between states. The central challenge, therefore, is how to work together most effectively to manage migration so as to reduce its negative impact and maximise its positive and beneficial impacts.

The most important outcome of the Berne Initiative is projected to be a policy framework facilitating

cooperation between states in managing the movement of the people in a humane and orderly way. Before holding this Regional Consultations for Asia, the Swiss government invited government migration experts from all regions of the world,

as well as academics and representatives from international organisations, to Berne, Switzerland in July 2003. This gathering of some 80 experts from all over the world, represented the first important step towards the development of a framework for international cooperation on migration.

In the same spirit, the participants in the Berne Initiative Regional Consultations for Asia and the Pacific explored what these states would like to see and included in the International Agenda for Migration Management. They validated the proposed structure of the agenda based on a set of com-

mon understandings on migration followed by a set of elements of effective practice in a comprehensive approach to migration. There was the recognition that nearly all the states are states of migration, even as they continue to be informed by their previous perspective as primarily countries of origin, transit on destination.

From the Bangladesh point of view the awakening of international community to formulate a non-binding framework has utmost importance. Bangladesh is a labour surplus country and the labour market situation is characterized with large increases in the labour

force, both in the urban and rural sectors. At the present state of economy, it is necessary to find avenues of employment for such personnel in foreign countries. Migration from Bangladesh started to the UK and some other western countries 35 years ago.

Bangladesh is rather a late entrant in the export market of the Middle East which started in 1976 with the establishment of Bureau of

Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) by late President Ziaur Rahman. Towards the end of 1980, the extent of migration took up a significant shape. Presently Bangladesh is exporting manpower to more than 25 countries. About 3.2m overseas workers are presently engaged in various parts of the world and the annual flow of migration is about 2.5 lakh.

The following salient points were discussed and stressed by the participants in The Berne Initiative : Asian Regional Consultations will contribute a lot to resolve many of the migratory problems faced by Bangladesh in a number of coun-

tries of destination :

* the pre-eminent role of full and effective inter-state cooperation to address the challenges and opportunities of migration ;

* the positive potential of migration, if it is properly managed, for both countries of origin and destination, as well as for individual migrants and their families;

* the need for transparency with regard to national policies on migration and for making available information about legal migration opportunities and the procedures that accompany them;

* migration is a complex issue, at the national level and it is imperative to bring all relevant ministries -- justice, home affairs (police), environment, social welfare, labour, commerce and trade and healthy, to name just a few -- into migration policy development and implementation.

* the need to a achieve a balance between facilities of migration for legitimate purposes particularly labour migration;

* the need to establish linkages between migration and related policy domains such as trade, environment and health, without seeking to resolve these related issue in migration fora;

* potential of migration for development as migrants bring skills, investment and resources back to support the development of their countries of origin;

The inputs from the Asian and Pacific governments as well as other interested stakeholders in these broad and regular consultations will be reflected in the further development of the Berne Initiative process for Migration Management by the end of 2004.

S M Wahid-uz-Zaman is Director General of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.