University of Basra organizes a symposium on illegal immigration in Bangladesh, its causes and consequences

The Geography Department, in cooperation with the Continuing Education Unit, organized a symposium on illegal immigration in Bangladesh, its causes and consequences, presented by lecturer Inaam Abdul Azim Al-Shaheen.

The symposium discussed that the period of the war to liberate Bangladesh in 1971 from the territories under the control of Pakistan created a state of chaos that led to large-scale migration to Indian lands due to the persecution of Bengali Hindus by the Pakistani army.

The symposium discussed that after the independence of Bangladesh as a state, people crossing the border were considered immigrants from Bangladesh, not refugees, and illegal activities continued along the eastern border of India, which posed a continuing challenge to policy makers.

The symposium pointed out that despite the fertile land of Bangladesh, it was often exposed to floods, cyclone storms, and destruction due to the change in the course of rivers, which led to widespread unemployment, in addition to the excessive increase in population that forced illegal immigrants to migrate to better and safer areas.