The 2006 CALD-ALDE-LI Manila Meeting is the third assembly of liberal parliamentarians and senior party officials from Asia and Europe, following earlier meetings in Seoul (2002) and Brussels (2004).

Jointly organized by the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats (CALD) and Liberal International (LI), the host of this year’s meeting is the CALD chair party, the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP). Support is provided by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) of Germany.

The theme for this meeting is Migration, Population and the Globalization of Labor: Challenges and Liberal Responses from Asia and Europe.  The keynote address will be delivered by Her Excellency Corazon C. Aquino, Former President of the Republic of the Philippines and a leading democratic icon of our times.

Among the sub-themes to be covered are:

(1) Liberal Migration and Population Policy Responses
                 to Demographic Trends

(2) Migrant Workers

(3) The Role of State and Religion in Managing Cultural Tensions.

Participants will consist of ministers, members of parliament, national and local government officials, and senior party officials from Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.  

This meeting is part of a continuing effort to share ideas on liberal responses to global challenges.  During the first two CALD-ALDE meetings, delegates from both continents expressed a desire to increase cooperation and to further strengthen relations between the two groups.  

As in the Seoul and Brussels meetings, each session should have three panelists. Each panelist is given a maximum of 10 minutes to present. Presentations are not intended to be complete papers but rather to serve as springboards for interactive discussions among all meeting participants and the panelists. Additional issues beyond those mentioned in the guide questions may be raised at the time of the meeting. The organizers are not requiring written papers, though the conference will be documented. Power point presentations are possible.   

Session I

Liberal Migration and Population Policy Responses to Demographic Trends

There are twice as many people living on the planet today as there were forty years ago.  Global population is expanding now at a rate of 75 million people per year (adding the population of roughly one Ethiopa per year).  The vast majority of the expansion is occurring in the world’s poorest nations.  In 1970, the population of Africa was half that of Europe, by the turn of the century the populations were equivalent, and by 2030, Africa’s population will be twice the size of Europe’s.  Session I will examine current demographic pressures in Europe and Asia: shifting age distributions, population growth or stagnation, health and environmental impacts, maintenance of social security programs, taxation, labor gaps, wealth distribution, etc.  Participants should be familiar with the main issues in their nations, the status of national policy related to the themes, and a liberal analysis of solving the problems and harnessing the opportunities.

Questions to be addressed by panellists:

Session 1: Liberal Migration and Population Policy Responses to Demographic Trends

(1)                 What are the most important demographic trends in your nation (age distribution, population growth, wealth distribution, migration, gender balance, etc.)?

(2)                 What threats and opportunities are presented by these trends?

(3)                 What migration and population policies has your government taken (or not taken) to respond to/manage the trends?

(4)                 Are those policies liberal?  If not, what would a liberal policy entail?

(5)                 Are they successful?  If not, what would a successful policy entail?

(6)                 What do divergences between a population policy’s liberality and its success tell us about the nature of liberalism as a guiding principle for governance?

Session II

Migrant Workers

As the median age of wealthier nations increases along with their demand for services, and as youthful populations of poorer nations seek higher standards of living for themselves and their families, international migration has risen in absolute volume.  There are roughly 100 million people living and often working outside their countries of citizenship, a population equivalent in size to the world's tenth largest country.

The challenges for these workers in foreign lands can be grave: forced labor, underpayment, inhumane working conditions, minimal social protection, denial of freedom of association and trade union rights, discrimination, xenophobia and social exclusion are among daily challenges.  Problems are exacerbated when many live in the shadows as illegal immigrants, or are shuffled as part of illegal trafficking networks. 

Even so, opportunities for migrant workers to contribute to the development of both nations of origin and nations of destination are real.  Depending on definitions, remittances from migrant workers exceed foreign aid by as much as three times.  However, there is debate in the academic community as to whether remittances are effective at promoting economic growth in the development world if they are spent on consumption rather than investment.

Session II will center around the political and economic challenges and opportunities presented by migrant labor.

Questions to be addressed by panellists:

(1)                 What macroeconomic threats and opportunities have come about in your country as a result of migrant workers?  How are they being properly or improperly managed by ruling governments?  For instance, how can remittances be harnessed to promote development?  What can be done by Parliamentarians to encourage that remittances go not merely towards consumption, but also towards investment?

(2)                 What political challenges have arisen as a result of migrant workers?  For instance, whose law should control the multinational corporations who employ migrant workers?  What are the political rights and responsibilities of the indigenous peoples and the immigrants?  Do political structures in nations of destination allow for genuine representation of migrant communities?

Session III

The Role of Religion and State in Managing Cultural Tensions

Religious belief, practice and identity directly inform decisions made by individuals about family, communal and extra-communal relations, as well as decisions made by the state on how to manage population and migration issues.  Session III will analyze the role of religion and religious communities as part of a transnational migration paradigm and a multidimensional approach to understanding political and cultural identities.

Questions to be addressed by panellists:

(1)                 Integration/Assimilation: What is the liberal response to the illiberal immigrant?  What aspects of Muslim immigration have been seen before under different auspices and handled effectively or poorly?  What aspects are new?  Specifically, in what ways is the Muslim resistance to assimilation similar to or divergent from other historical instances of group migration from an area of shared religious language to an area of foreign religion?

(2)                 Individual vs. Public Ethics: When is institutional religion a partner versus a hindrance in the management of demographic issues?  How can representatives of nations of wealthy nations work together with representatives of rapid growth nations to promote constructive dialogue with religious groups traditionally opposed to comprehensive discussions of population management?