WATERLOO -- Canada's most prominent area of German settlement -- Kitchener-Waterloo -- will host an unprecedented conference next month on the experiences of German-speaking immigrants around the world.

The conference, to be held at St. Paul's College on the University of Waterloo campus Aug. 24 to 27, is entitled Diaspora Experiences: German-Speaking Immigrants and their Descendants. It will showcase some 60 international experts giving public talks on German immigration in 27 countries and areas around the world.

Diaspora, a term commonly used to describe the socio-historical experience of the Jewish people, now has evolved into an analytical category for examining present-day patterns of immigration in broader terms.

"We will explore commonalities and differences experienced by German-speaking immigrants and their descendants when living in geographical and linguistic settings other than those of their own ethnic origin," said David John, director of the centre and a UW professor of German studies.

"A conference on this topic and of this dimension has never before been held," he said. "We want to break new ground and provide an agenda for the future."

The conference was organized by the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, which is affiliated with UW's Germanic and Slavic studies department. For more information on speakers and topics, visit link

The event will feature the following three keynote speakers giving overviews to the German diaspora in terms of history, linguistics and literature:

-- Hans Lemberg (Philipps Universität Marburg), "Reasons and Conditions of Population Transfer. Expulsion of Germans from East and Central Europe and their Integration in Germany and in Foreign Countries after World War II."

-- Janet Fuller (Southern Illinois University), "Language and Identity in the German Diaspora (and at Home)."

-- Hugo Hamilton (an author living in Dublin, Ireland), reading from his celebrated novel The Speckled People, a memoir of growing up in a mixed Irish-German-English culture.

John said that many local residents will find Hamilton's talk to be of interest as his experiences mirror their own. He will give his public presentation Aug. 25, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in MacKirdy Hall, St. Paul's College (admission $8, full conference registrants exempt).

"We are delighted to make this offering to the international academic community and to our fellow citizens of Kitchener-Waterloo," John said, adding that the centre's mandate is to study, encourage and support German heritage, language and modern German-Canadian relations.

The conference organizing committee, which John chairs, searched for the best possible speakers from around the world. Organizers sent out a call worldwide and received 139 expressions of interest, followed by 114 proposals that were then assessed anonymously by external experts. The proposals discussed aspects of the German diaspora in some 27 countries.

Built by German settlers and immigrants, Kitchener-Waterloo is a significant German heritage centre in Canada and is home to the greatest density of German-Canadians in the country. As a result, a large body of knowledge about German-Canadian culture and the German-speaking peoples exists in the area.

There is no doubt that the arrests of 17 suspected terrorists in Toronto would have some impact on Canadian public opinion. Such issues as Public Security, Immigration and Multiculturalism have been the object of considerable scrutiny over the past two weeks. In order to better understand the reaction of Canadians on policies in these areas the Association for Canadian Studies commissioned the firm Leger Marketing to ask questions about security, multiculturalism and immigration. In total 1 502 interviews were conducted across Canada of perons 18 years of age and over between June 13 and 18, 2006. The margin of error was ±2,5%, 19 times out of 20.

It is on the issue of immigration policy that the biggest backlash has occurred arising from the arrests of the suspected terrorists. Paradoxically the higher rates of dissatisfaction with immigration policy are outside the province in which the activities were taking place. Ontario is currently the only province where more residents are satisfied that they are dissatisfied with immigration policies. The rates of dissatisfaction are especially high in British Columbia followed by the province of Alberta .

Go to study

"UN chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday touted global migration as a boon to both host nations and countries of origin but said it needs to be managed to prevent abuses of migrants or xenophobic reactions from native populations," reports Agence France Press.

"In a report to the UN General Assembly, Annan argued that 'international migration, supported by the right policies, can be highly beneficial for the development both of the countries they come from and of those where they arrive.' He however warned in his 'early road map for this new era of mobility' that these benefits were contingent 'on the rights of the migrants themselves being respected and upheld.' ."

Xinhua (China) adds that ".people living outside their home countries numbered 191 million in 2005, with 115 million in developed countries. The report found that one-third of all current immigrants in the world have moved from one developing country to another, with about the same number from the developing world to the developed. In other words, 'South-South' migration is roughly equivalent to 'South-North,' the report states. But migration to countries designated as 'high-income' -- a category which includes some developing countries, such as South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- has grown much faster than to the rest of the world, it observes. ."

The Associated Press notes that ". the document . comes three months before the 191-member General Assembly holds a two-day meeting on how to coordinate immigration policy worldwide. That event will be the first time that the main UN body considers the phenomenon of migration.

While many of its specific findings are not new, the document gave a rare broader look at migration and brought together facts from more than 100 earlier studies published since 1981. It is meant to spur UN member states into taking more action on immigration. The document offered proposals to reduce human trafficking, lower the cost of sending money back home and figure out new ways to entice their highly educated citizens to return home. ."

Reuters writes that ". migration has several positive benefits for both the host nation and the country of origin, according to the report. . Poor countries benefit by receiving an estimated $167 billion a year in remittances, up from $58 billion in 1995. Worldwide, money sent home by migrants totaled $232 billion in 2005, up from $102 billion in 1995. One third of global remittances went to just four countries, India, China, Mexico and France. ."

The New York Times adds that ". the report said that migration sometimes reduced the wages of low-skilled workers in advanced economies, but that it more often freed citizens to perform high-paying jobs. Listing demographic statistics that will make a continued rise in migration inevitable, the report said that in developed countries there is an average of 142 young entrants to the labor force for every 100 people about to retire, but that in 10 years, the ratio will be 87 young entrants for every 100 who leave the labor force. This trend, it argued, creates a deficit that only migrants can close. At the same time, developing countries will have 342 candidates for every 100 jobs that open up."

The BBC (UK) reports that ". Annan's report also highlighted the risk of 'brain drain.' An estimated 60 percent of the highly educated people of Guyana, Haiti and Jamaica now live abroad. The report proposes setting up a permanent forum on the issue so governments can compare their different policies. The report found that Europe hosted 34 percent of all migrants in 2005, North America 23 percent and Asia 28 percent, with 9 percent in Africa, 3 percent in Latin America and 3 percent in Oceania. ."