| Challenge lies in economics of illegal migration: Dipu Moni | | | | | | Sumon K Chakrabarti, Chief National Correspondent of CNN-IBN, writes exclusively for bdnews24.com
New Delhi, Feb 17, 2009 – Bangladesh's foreign minister spoke of illegal migration in South Asia as a major challenge in light of social and economic realities of the region, calling for greater cooperation between neighbouring countries, in an interview aired Tuesday on an Indian news network.
"We share a huge border, a very long border with India—and think about Mexico and the US. They have all these modern mechanisms; they have everything. Still, can they stop people going from one side to the other?
"Here also it could happen, it happens. A part of a household is on that side and maybe the other part is on the other side. So there are crossings all the time," Dr Dipu Moni told CNN-IBN. On paper, a 4,000-kilometre long border separates India and Bangladesh, but on the ground, little does.
"There are over-whelming millions who share similar hopes, aspirations, cultures and even history. For development of this region, we have to think about these people. There is no escaping the fact that we are neighbours. Unless we cooperate economically, socially, and all sorts of other ways, it's not going to be possible," she said.
"A majority of these people live with very little. We have to deliver, that is what 'Vision 2021' is all about," said the minister, mentioning her government's pledge to achieve major development goals by the country's 50th anniversary after independence.
"In these times, no country can think just about itself but about the region. Here we even share the same rivers, so unless we cooperate, how can we deliver on these promises," she said, in what seemed to be a new message for New Delhi.
New Delhi maintains that the Indo-Bangladesh border is vulnerable to terrorist infiltration. Bangladesh's previous BNP-led government, which ruled in coalition with Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh from 2001-2006, was also accused of allowing terrorist groups to flourish. But the present Awami League government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised to turn the page.
The foreign minister told CNN-IBN: "Some groups were banned and if there are still terror groups working inside Bangladesh, if we have any kind of indication from anyone or any proof, this government will do everything that is possible to combat that, combat those forces, within our national borders through our national mechanism."
"At the same time we would like to cooperate with our neighbours so that the spill over effect is not there or there are no cross-border activities," said Dipu Moni. "We will not let an inch of our territories to be used by anyone, either Indian insurgent groups or any other terrorist group," she added.
While previous Bangladeshi regimes have been perceived by New Delhi to be uncooperative, the foreign minister clarified that her government is thinking differently. "If we want lasting peace in this region then we must cooperate with our neighbours," said Dipu Moni.
Bangladesh's first female foreign minister also said her country needs to "fully utilise" domestic mechanisms that exist to combat terrorists. "At the same time, we must create and utilise global mechanisms as well. This South Asian task force (against terror) can be one such mechanism," she told CNN-IBN, speaking of a proposal by her government for a regional anti-terror watchdog.
Dipu Moni believes the proposed task force is needed to crack down on terrorists throughout South Asia. The new foreign minister clarified that the people of Bangladesh is yet to achieve what they "wanted to achieve when the country was formed" in 1971.
But it is clear that for the first time in many years a government in Dhaka is promising change.
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