Dhaka paves way for safe migration

International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General Amy Pope has said Bangladesh is the birthplace of the Global Migration Framework and the first champion country to address migration issues and implement policies that safeguard migrants’ rights.

“Bangladesh is the birthplace of the Global Migration Framework. Eight years ago, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina became the first leader to advocate the Global Migration Framework to the secretary general at the general assembly.

And two years later, in 2018, the United Nations came up with a global compact for safe, regular and orderly migration,” she said while explaining the reasons for choosing Bangladesh to launch the World Migration Report 2024 at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday.

With the event in Dhaka, the IOM, in its history of 73 years, launched its World Migration Report outside Geneva for the first time, as the UN organisation found Bangladesh has all elements of complex migration landscape, including climate change, shifting demographics and so on.

In the keynote speech, the IOM director general presented the findings in global and Bangladesh perspectives.

Amy Pope, the first woman director general of the IOM, expected that the report will inspire collaborative efforts to harness the potential of migration as a driver for human development and global prosperity.
“The World Migration Report 2024 helps demystify the complexity of human mobility through evidence-based data and analysis,” she said.

“In a world grappling with uncertainty, understanding migration dynamics is essential for informed decision-making and effective policy responses, and the World Migration Report advances this understanding by shedding light on longstanding trends and emerging challenges,” the IOM chief added.

Speaking about international migration, she said 72.1 million people were internally displaced in 2022 and 117 million people were living in displacement globally.
Amy Pope said over 40% of the total population or 70 million people of Ukraine were displaced and migrated due to the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.

She also spoke about the plight of residents of Gaza in Palestine and forcefully displaced Rohingyas of Myanmar who took refuge in Bangladesh.

According to the report, there are a total of 281 million international migrants who account for 3.6% of the global population. In addition, international remittances increased from $128 billion in 2000 to $831 billion in 2022.

Over the period, she said, 169 million migrants remitted $831 billion, including $647 billion to low and middle-income countries. And 51.9% of migrant workers were male while 48.1% were female.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s perspective of the World Migration Report 2024, she said Bangladesh is the sixth highest worker sending and eighth highest remittance receiving country.

In Asia, Bangladesh ranks fifth in internal migration due to climate change, Amy Pope said, adding that 1.5 million people were displaced in 2022 alone here.

The country received $21.9 billion in remittances last year through banking channels and if the data on remittances received through illegal channels were included, it would be much higher, Amy Pope said.
She said unfortunately, 12% of the total fortune seekers who lost their lives while crossing the Mediterranean this year were Bangladeshis.

The IOM chief said investing in migrant workers to ensure their safe and regular pathways to jobs is well beyond the traditional development process.

IOM Bangladesh Chief of Mission Abdusattor Esoev made the opening remarks, while Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley and acting High Commissioner of Australia in Bangladesh Nardia Simpson addressed the event moderated by IOM Senior Policy Adviser Prof Shahidul Haque.