Irregular migration likely to tarnish country's image

Speakers at a programme yesterday said when cross-border migration of people has become an inevitable part of today's globalised world for their livelihood, irregular migration could seriously affect the country's image.
To ensure safe migration, cross-border security and combat terrorism, there is no alternative to modern immigration management, they said at the training programme of immigration officials.
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) organised the training on 'Document analysis and examinations of fake travel documents' for 20 immigration officials of the Special Branch of Police at a city hotel on October 27-28.
It was part of an ongoing technical cooperation programme funded by Australia.
Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder said, “Modern immigration management is today a global demand for safeguarding national security and combating cross-border crime and terrorism.”
“The government is committed to working together with all actors concerned to combat such crime and irregular migration.”
IOM Regional Representative Rabab Fatima said the phenomenal growth of legal movement of people from Bangladesh is a cause to celebrate, but the large number of irregular travel negates the country's image abroad as well.
Additional Inspector General of SB Police Mohammad Javed Patwary said, “Crossing border is a livelihood option for the countrymen, but if it is not managed well, regular migration and movement can adversely affected.”
IOM expert Sjef Broekhaar, who led the course, said the workshop taught participants about different techniques of intelligence gathering and investigative methods after the detection of a fraudulent document.