The Liu Migration Network is a network of approximately one hundred graduate students working in the field of migration studies at UBC. The network, formerly called the Graduate Student Migration Network (GSMN), has been in existence since 2004. It is now affiliated with the Liu Institute, an arrangement that will provide more resources and opportunities for all members. It also maintains important connections with Metropolis British Columbia, which offers access to a wealth of migration-related resources in the province.

As migration scholars know, international migration is a basic feature of globalization. Around 175 million persons currently reside outside the country of their birth — about three percent of the world’s population. If they all lived in the same place, they would form the world’s fifth most populous country. The number of migrants has more than doubled since 1975. Almost one of every ten persons living in the more developed regions, but only one of every seventy persons in developing countries, is a migrant. Approximately nine percent of migrants are refugees.¹ There are many issues at play in these numbers. The Liu Migration Network seeks to provide places and events for dialogue about these issues.

The Liu Migration Network builds on an earlier inter-faculty initiative in migration studies (IFIMS), which sought to institutionalize the inter-disciplinary study of migration at the University of British Columbia. Like IFIMS before it, the Liu Migration Network aims to provide space for discussion among scholars on important issues of migration theory, policy and methods.

This year, the Liu Migration Network will host several events. All graduate students working in migration studies are welcome to be members of the Liu Migration Network and to attend all events. Please email the Chair, Asha Kaushal, at gsmn.ubc@gmail.com. All members will receive email announcements of events as well as notice of migration-related funding, conferences and employment opportunities.