Migrants need social, legal protection

Bangladesh wants social and legal protection of migrant workers in destination countries during emergency situations like the Covid-19 pandemic that has exposed their sheer vulnerability abroad.

"Migrant workers need to be included in the social and judicial protection system of the countries of destination to address the gap. We need to ensure migrants' rights from the early stage of ethical recruitment to wage, health and job protection," said Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

The comment comes ahead of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to be hosted by the UAE on January 18-24. The UN-led forum is going to be held at a time when restrictions on migrants have been increasing due to the pandemic.

About 400,000 Bangladeshi migrants returned home, mostly empty-handed, since the pandemic began in March last year, while scopes for overseas jobs have declined significantly. Many of those who had come home on leave remained stranded.

There are some one crore Bangladeshi migrants who annually send home about $20 billion, which is the lifeline of Bangladesh's economy.

"During the trying times of Covid-19, we have seen many of the migrant workers lost their jobs and were in great difficulty as they were not covered by the social safety nets of the countries of destination," Momen said at a virtual pre-GFMD national consultation organised by the Parliamentary Caucus on Migration and Development with support from WARBE Development Foundation and PROKAS project of British Council.

"Moreover, a large number of migrant workers were living or forced to live in a crowded environment which was risky for transmission of the virus.

"We need to ensure migrants' rights from the early stage of ethical recruitment to wage, health and job protection. For that to happen, the international community should play a key role through platforms like GFMD so that that migrant workers are well covered by legal mechanisms in the host countries."

Noting that Bangladesh is a climate vulnerable country, he said about 30 million people may be displaced with one-metre sea level rise.

"Bangladesh cannot handle such a huge uprooted population alone, we need effective and proactive support from the international community," he added.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said unpaid wages and job losses of migrants during the pandemic suggest that migration policies need to be revised for sustainable migration management.

He said irregular migration is increasing with the normal channels of migration being disrupted, and opined that unscrupulous agents and the migrants who take the irregular path of migration should come under law.

Former foreign secretary Shahidul Haque said with the global economies being disrupted by Covid-19, many of the countries are taking nationalistic policies, which may hamper the SDG targets of inclusion of vulnerable populations, including migrants and refugees.

However, one should not forget that migration is essential to tackle a pandemic like Covid-19, he said, mentioning that 24 percent of the health workers globally are migrants.

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) President Benjir Ahmed MP said recruiting agencies play a crucial role in   overseas employment sector, but their contributions are not recognised.

"Much of the visa trading happens in the destination countries, but the recruiting agents are blamed for this unfairly. Destination countries need to come up to prevent such visa trading that increases migration costs," he said.

He suggested that governments and employers of destination countries and the Bangladesh government have a big role in stopping the unethical recruitment.

Parliamentary Caucus on Migration and Development Chair barrister Shamim Haider Patwary moderated the discussion.

WARBE Development Foundation Chair Syed Saiful Haque and Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) Executive Director Prof CR Abrar and PROKAS Team Leader Gerry Fox also spoke on the occasion.