BANGLADESHIS coming to be among the top three nationalities to cross the Mediterranean Sea or land borders to enter Europe, without valid papers on life-threatening journey, raises a number of issues. A large number of Bangladeshis are reported to take such a journey to Europe every year. In 2021, at least 7,577, or 10.9 per cent of the 122,485 undocumented migrants having reached European countries, were, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says, Bangladeshis. Reports of Bangladeshis dying on their way to Europe have also made the headlines many times. At least seven Bangladeshis died in the past week in cold weather while trying to cross the sea from Libya in a boat carrying 280 people. The government admits that there are many who go to a Middle Eastern country with valid papers, either as tourists or with work permits, and then head towards Europe without documents. These aspiring migrants, often allured by unscrupulous intermediaries, land in difficulty as they are usually crammed in little boats to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Such illegal and dangerous migration has also earned a bad name for Bangladesh, which has more than 12 million migrants in about 170 countries.
What is unacceptable is that when such illegal migration has continued for years, the authorities have largely failed to stop it. The authorities have not even been able to reduce the influence of intermediaries, who make migration difficult. The authorities should also find out why Bangladeshis, along with people from some war-ravaged countries, cram boats for a deadly journey to Europe. Besides the failure to facilitate migration through proper channels, a jobless growth of the economy is what should be blamed. When Bangladesh boasts of a remarkable economic development, a poor employment situation, job insecurity, rising inequality and poverty push many to take perilous routes to other countries. The government has, as experts and economists say, not calibrated economic and development policies to ensure an inclusive growth. If the amount of money laundered from Bangladesh, which tops Asian countries in terms of money laundering, had been invested in the country, more employment opportunities could have been generated. The government has, moreover, failed to invest and attract foreign investment in labour-intensive sectors that could create more jobs. What is also unacceptable is that when remittances are the second highest foreign exchange earner, the government has largely failed to ensure migrant rights.
The government has, therefore, a number of issues to attend to. The government must facilitate and ease the migration process, train aspiring migrants with the required skills and end the influence of the intermediaries on the migration process. The government must also put an effective monitoring mechanism in place to stop illegal migration. The government needs to ensure an inclusive growth so as to create more employment opportunities and fight the rising poverty rate and inequality.
