IOM and the Special Branch of the Bangladeshi Police, which is
responsible for border management, will tomorrow host a one-day
workshop in Dhaka to discuss the challenges facing migration
management in Bangladesh.

The workshop, which follows an Australian-funded review of
Bangladesh’s immigration clearance system, will address the
findings of a report: "Emerging Needs Assessment of Immigration
Process: Bangladesh," and discuss follow up actions, including the
establishment of border management committees at both national and
operational levels.

The event, which will bring together senior officials from the
Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives,
the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Bangladesh Police and the
Australian High Commission in Dhaka, is part of a broader effort to
strengthen border management in Bangladesh and build the capacity
the Police Special Branch.

Bangladesh has a long porous land border of 4,246 km with India
and Myanmar and a 580 km coastline. It has 32 official immigration
check points.

While regular labour migration from the country reached 375,000
in 2006 and remittances exceeded USD 5 billion, large numbers of
people still migrate through irregular channels, often suffering
exploitation at the hands of smugglers and traffickers.

For more information, please contact:

Nahreen Farjana

IOM Dhaka

Tel: +88 02 8814604

E-mail: "mailto:nfarjana@iom.int">nfarjana@iom.int