They said acute poverty and absence of viable alternatives at home force the children to migrate in search of works, while for some parents it is a strategic choice that their children will eventually return home with a sizeable amount of money.

The workshop on 'Migration for livelihood: The case of children in Bangladesh' was organised by Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) of Dhaka University in collaboration with Development Research Centre (DRC) of Sussex University.

Presenting a study Prof Sumaiya Khair of Dhaka University said death or absence of parents and maltreatment at home are also important factors for children's migration to urban areas.

She said most child migrants live on the streets, vehicle stations and slums while very few of them can afford to live in the rented houses, hostels or messes.

In most cases, they have no access to adequate sanitation, she added.

"Working in informal sector, they are outside the purview of existing labour laws and have to work for long hours at nominal wages," Prof Sumaiya said, adding that these children occupy an extremely fragile position within the power hierarchy in the urban labour market.

She said absence of immediate family and friends reinforces the vulnerability of migrant children to abuse.

"Although the children constitute a significant proportion of the migrant population in Dhaka, their position in the migration paradigm is largely unacknowledged," she emphasised.

Speaking as chief guest former advisor to caretaker government Rokia Afzal Rahman said Bangladesh has a rich culture of nourishing the children by their mothers even after remaining hungry, but unfortunately many children have to go through exploitation for economic reasons.

Though child labour was removed from formal sector, it could not be done in informal sector as it has been observed that termination of jobs resulted in the starvation of many children, she added.

"So the better solution for them is to create option for education alongside their work," she said.

However, the best option is to encourage them to stay back with their families, Rokia said, adding that vocational training could be incorporated for the children in the village schools or NGO schools.

She also laid emphasis on framing national policy to protect the rights of the migrant child workers.

RMMRU Coordinator Dr CR Abrar, Prof HKS Arefin, Prof Munirul Islam Khan, Dr Shahdeen Malik and Prof Firdous Azim also spoke.