From Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman
Your article on “environmental exiles” falsely accuses Bangladeshis of migrating to India and gives an erroneous impression that we are always under water (7 May, p 8).
It is true that we do have floods every now and then, because of our geographical position, but it doesn’t mean we are always submerged. Even the biggest flood covers at most only one-third of the country and usually lasts less than a month during the rainy season. This flood is necessary for our survival. It has made our lands fertile and made us self-sufficient in food production – a country with a land mass of 144,000 square kilometres produces all the food necessary for its 144 million people.
Only a limited number of people migrate from the country and they are mainly middle or upper class. In most cases they go to rich countries like the US, UK, Australia and Canada. The poor people who are most affected by flooding don’t even migrate much within the country, let alone go to a neighbouring one. None of the surveys conducted has shown any evidence of people migrating from Bangladesh to India.
London, UK
