Editorial: Protect migrant workers from food shortages
A report in this daily on May 13 painted a grim picture of the fate of Bangladeshi migrant workers with most host countries doing very little to support them. While we have already heard of the mistreatment of migrant workers during the pandemic—for example, they are being crammed into work camps, losing their jobs and facing high rates of infection—this report confirmed that at least one lakh of the over five million Bangladeshi migrants working in the Middle East are suffering from hunger.
Bangladesh embassy officials in Saudi Arabia have handed out food parcels to around 8,000 workers, and have warned that thousands more will require food aid. In Bahrain, where one-fourth of nearly two lakh Bangladeshis are in financial crisis, the embassy has received appeals for food from at least 4,200 migrants. The situation is dire not just in the Middle East—embassy officials in Malaysia, Greece and Italy have also confirmed the need for food aid and cash support for thousands of migrants.
This is only the plight of the documented workers. Reports have confirmed that many of the two to three lakh Bangladeshis who work in Saudi Arabia illegally are afraid of even leaving their living quarters due to the fear of a crackdown. This has already begun in Malaysia, where the detention of undocumented migrant workers has been widely criticised by rights groups—as has been their decision to make employers pay for mandatory coronavirus tests of foreign workers, the costs of which are expected to eventually be shouldered by the workers themselves.
The expatriates' welfare ministry's announcement of a Tk 4.5 crore fund for migrant workers, and a separate announcement of another Tk 3 crore for immediate food support, are positive steps forward. However, this is nowhere near enough to protect the millions of Bangladeshi workers abroad. Equally importantly, the question that needs to be asked is: aren't the host countries also responsible for the migrants working on their land? While the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other rights groups have asked these countries to protect the migrant workers, the host countries seem little concerned.
We urge the government to speak up for the rights of our migrant workers and engage at all diplomatic levels, especially with OIC countries, to protect them. It is unjust and morally reprehensible that the workers who have given their labour for these countries are now being unable to fulfil a need as basic as the right to food. The UN and the international community must hold these countries to account and uphold the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers during these difficult times.
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