Remittance marks 9.2pc rise in 2011

The remittance sent by Bangladeshi expatriates marked a 9.25 per cent rise in the current year compared to 1.4 per cent in 2010, said a report of RMMRU, a research organisation at Dhaka University, reports UNB. President of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) Prof Dr Tasnim Siddiqui released the report at a press conference at National Press Club Tuesday. The report said the largest amount of remittance came from Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, the USA, Kuwait, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. It found that a large number of people are moving aboard from six districts - Comilla (12 per cent of total migration), Chittagong (9 per cent), Dhaka (7 per cent), Brahmanbaria (6 per cent), Chandpur (5 per cent) and Tangail (4.8 per cent). Although there is internal migration of the climate-induced people from the country's coastal belt and Monga-prone areas, there is hardly any migration aboard from these areas, according to the report. About the expatriates who returned from Libya this year, the report said 65 per cent of the returnees do not have any arable land, while 10 per cent have no homestead. About 90 per cent of them had migrated taking loans. Speaking at the press conference, Dr Tasnim Siddiqui, also a teacher at Dhaka University, said creating jobs for those retuned from Libya is a challenge for the government. She stressed creating a data base of those who return home from abroad to utlise their knowledge and skill. Dr Tasnim urged the government to announce the 2012-2021 as 'Migration Decade', aiming to promote migration abroad and thus increasing the remittance inflow. Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman also spoke at the press conference.