The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has released the World Migration Report 2024. This international report, which has been published biennially since 2000, has been organized for the first time in the capital of Bangladesh outside its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
IOM Director General Amy Pope released the ‘World Migration Report 2024’ internationally at a hotel in Dhaka’s Banani on Tuesday afternoon. Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Hasan Mahmud spoke as the chief guest on the occasion.
The Foreign Minister thanked IOM for selecting Bangladesh to publish the World Migration Report. He said that the repatriation of 1.3 million Rohingya people, who were forcibly displaced from Myanmar and took refuge in Bangladesh, to their own country as soon as possible has become a big challenge. The use of their shelter area in Cox’s Bazar as a ‘breeding ground’ for drug and arms smuggling and militancy is becoming not only a national but also an international crisis.
Dr. Hasan Mahmud thanked the IOM Director General who came to Bangladesh for visiting the Rohingya camp and expressed hope that IOM will play a major role along with other countries in the world in solving this crisis.
Besides mentioning the plight of thousands of people who have been displaced due to the war in Ukraine and the Israeli attack on Gaza, Foreign Minister Hasan said that natural disasters and climate change have long been linked to the displacement of people, which it is time to take into account and work together to solve them claim.
IOM Director General Amy Pope, referring to the information of the report, said that out of more than 28 million displaced people in the world, about 12.7 million people are displaced due to war-seismic-conflict and various disasters. This is worrying.
He also highlighted the negative impact of migration on the global economy. Amy Pope said that between 2000 and 2022, international remittances or income sent by expatriates increased by 650 percent from 128 billion US dollars to 831 billion. This income is one of the driving forces for the economic progress of many countries including Bangladesh.
On the importance of the report, Amy Pope said, The World Migration Report’s evidence-based data and analysis help to understand the underlying mysteries of human migration, which are essential for informed decision-making and effective policy-making in an uncertain world.
In the presence of ambassadors, high commissioners, heads of missions, diplomats, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, civil society and media representatives of various countries appointed in Dhaka, Charles Whiteley, the head of delegation and ambassador of the European Union in Bangladesh and Nadia Simpson, the acting high commissioner of Australia(Nardia Simpson) and Abdussattar Isoev, Head of IOM Mission in Bangladesh, spoke at the publication event.