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home to their families, a sum much greater than the remittances receivedfrom China’s international migrants.In 2005, IOM organized a regional conference in Asia in <strong>La</strong>nzhou, Chinawhich was hosted by the government <strong>of</strong> China and funded by the UKDepartment for <strong>International</strong> Development. The <strong>La</strong>nzhou conferencewhich brought together policy makers and experts from some <strong>of</strong> thelargest countries in Asia, focused on ways to enhance the contributionsthat internal migrants can make to local and national development. Anextensive report on the conference, entitled “Migration, Development andPoverty Reduction in Asia” was published in 2005 by IOM in both Englishand Mandarin.One <strong>of</strong> the key messages <strong>of</strong> <strong>this</strong> report is that we need much more indepthcomparative research and analysis to understand better the impact<strong>of</strong> different policy approaches on development. It was evident from the<strong>La</strong>nzhou conference that national policy responses vary enormously. Somecountries have very clearly defined policies in regards to the management<strong>of</strong> internal migration whilst others have a much more “laissez-faire”approach. As internal migration affects the work <strong>of</strong> so many differentministries, agriculture, labour, health, development etc., it is <strong>of</strong>ten difficultto identify a clearly defined national policy. In other countries such as VietNam and China where previously there was an emphasis on restrictingmigration through a variety <strong>of</strong> means, there has been a shift in policy infavour <strong>of</strong> encouraging and managing internal migration in order to boosteconomic development.We also need much more evaluation and assessment <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> the pilotprogrammes which have been initiated in a number <strong>of</strong> countries to reducethe costs <strong>of</strong> internal migration for migrants and receiving destinations, Oneexample, <strong>of</strong> such a scheme is the “Migrant <strong>La</strong>bour Support Programme’’(MLSP) in India, which aims to identify ways for poor tribal migrantsto maximize the benefits from seasonal migration, and to replicate theseapproaches in tribal districts and destination areas. Key components <strong>of</strong> theMLSP approach are the registration <strong>of</strong> migrants by the local government,the issuing <strong>of</strong> identity cards and employment record books, and makingaccident and life insurance available to tribal migrants. Two kinds <strong>of</strong> centreshave been set up under the MLSP – the Migrant Information Centres andMigration Resources Centres. These centres provide migrants with variousforms <strong>of</strong> support, such as information about job opportunities and accessto social and health services, and can also assist migrants in disputes withemployers about unpaid wages and other issues. (For more information9

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