Children at a Moheshkhali school are introduced to e-learning. Photo: Shirin Akhter / IOM

Bangladesh’s ‘Digital Island’ Bridges Services Gap
Posted on Fri. April 28, 2017

Bangladesh - The Government of Bangladesh, Korea Telecom (KT) and IOM yesterday inaugurated a USD 2.2 million ‘digital island project’, which aims to provide better access to health, education and e-commerce services to the 321,218 people who live on the remote island of Moheshkhali.

The island, located in Bangladesh’s southeast district of Cox’s Bazar, is one of the country’s poorest and most remote areas. It has a population density of 900 people per square kilometre, but only 11 physicians for every 2,000 people and an average literacy rate of 30 percent, compared with a national average of 70 percent.

The main issue is staffing. The Government has built enough schools and clinics to cover the population’s needs, but the facilities remain chronically short- staffed. Teachers, doctors and many inhabitants do not want to live in the remote area due to lack of reliable power, jobs and a bridge that connects them to the mainland. Many residents migrate abroad in search of work, often putting their lives in danger. 

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Sub-Saharan African migrants about to leave Libya with IOM assistance. File Photo: IOM

IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix: 381,463 Migrants in Libya
Posted on Fri. April 28, 2017

Libya - IOM, the UN Migration Agency has found that the trip to Libya is reportedly costing more for a larger proportion of migrants from Sudan and Nigeria. In 2016, 60 percent of Nigerian respondents and 41 percent of Sudanese respondents reported paying between USD 1,000 and 5,000 for their journey to Libya.

This increased to 71 percent of Nigerian respondents and 64 percent of Sudanese respondents in the first few months of 2017. This data was collected through Flow Monitoring surveys conducted among with 1,314 migrants.

This data is included in the Round 8 DTM Migration information package, which presents data collected between December 2016 and March 2017. It highlights that 381,463 migrants were found to be present in Libya during that period.

The package provides a holistic overview of resident and mobile migrants in Libya. It presents data on migrants’ demographic characteristics, journeys, intentions, relations with the host community, documentation status, educational and vocational backgrounds. The data builds on Libya 2016 Migration Profiles and Trends, which was published in March.

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“i am a migrant” is part of the UN TOGETHER initiative that promotes respect, safety and dignity for everyone who has left home in search of a better life. More here

Melkamu: "I want to help my people. I may not be rich but I have peace and  freedom, priceless commodities that I wish I could take back to my country."
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A global database tracking data on deceased and missing migrants along migratory routes. Please visit: MissingMigrants.iom.int

"Migration is not a problem to be solved, but an opportunity to be nurtured." –  Tauhid Pasha, IOM’s Senior Specialist/Labour Migration, Migration and Development. More here.