Speakers tell int’l conference
Speakers at an international conference yesterday identified that extreme poverty, climate change impact, population growth, urbanisation, governance failures, and food and energy insecurity force people to be migrated.
The second and concluding day of the two-day conference on “Changing nature of forced migration: Vulnerabilities and responsibilities in South and Southeast Asia” was held at Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong.
The second day was divided into three sessions. The first session focused on “Coping mechanisms”, with four papers presented on it.
Dr Meherun Ahmed from Bangladesh presented paper on “Crisis coping strategies of households in Bangladesh: What role does migration play?”, Pralip Kumar Narzary from India on “Economic hardship and its coping mechanism among Boro tribal internally displaced persons in India,” Dr Rathana Peou Van den Heuvel from Bangladesh on “Need for emphasis on livelihood status in the coastal community: Analysis from community mobilisation projects for disaster risk reduction in Bangladesh”, and Shodashi R Rayamakhi, Laxmi Joshi Gyawali, and Hari Prasad Joshi from Nepal on “Migration, displacement, impact and intervention strategies: A comprehensive overview.”
The second session focused on “Politics of belonging, incorporation, settlement and identity”, on which three papers were presented.
Sujaat Wasty from England presented paper on “From statelessness to recognition: A baseline survey of the Biharis (Urdu speaking minorities) in Bangladesh”, Sustarum Thammaboosadee from Thailand on “Partial citizenship of neoliberal economic man: Legal bank account for illegal Burmese migrant workers: The evolution of remittance mechanism”, and Aparna Malaviya from India on “Crossing borders and shifting identities: Afghan women on the move”.
In the third session, Sander Van Niekerk from Holland, an associate protection officer of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Bangladesh presented paper on “UNHCR — working with protected and stateless refugees”.
Four roundtables were organised after these three sessions on different topics including “Migration to big cities from coastal villages of Bangladesh: An empirical analysis” presented by Mohammad Mamun Or Rashid; “Immigration, global poverty and the right to stay” by Kieran Oberman; “Need to strengthen support in rural areas: The migratory communities are not satisfied with their present urban lifestyle” by Ehsanul Kabir; and “Situation of Chakma migrants in Arunachal Prodesh: A systematic review of literature” by Abba Pulu.
-With The Daily Star input
