ASIA/BANGLADESH - Risking their lives to escape poverty

Teknaf (Agenzia Fides) - The phenomenon of the mass exodus of migrants and refugees in Southeast Asia continues to alert the various humanitarian organizations as well as the United Nations itself. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, about 88,000 people, mainly poor Bangladeshis or displaced Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, have tried to cross the border with Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia in 15 months. Among them, about 63,000 between January and December 2014, and another 25 thousand in the first quarter of this year, during which about 300 people died at sea. Since October 2014, 620 people have lost their lives in dangerous unplanned sea crossings in the Bay of Bengal.
To aggravate the already dire situation is the discovery of smuggling networks that has led governments in the region, particularly Thailand and Malaysia, to pounce on irregular arrivals, to prevent the theft of boats.
Bangladeshi immigrants flee poverty and unemployment in their country of almost 157 million inhabitants, 31% of whom are poor. The Statistical Office of Bangladesh indicates that unemployment affects 4.53% of the economically active population, about 7 million people are out of work. Between 60 and 70% of the Bengali population live on agriculture and the vast majority have difficulty surviving. In a vain attempt to eliminate the problem from the root, the Border Guard of Bangladesh has ordered more control points to increase alertness and has proposed the Government to impose more severe regulations for the registration of vessels. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 09/07/2015)