Change law to protect migrant workers' cause

With changing problems in overseas recruitment system, it has become imperative to amend the Emigration Ordinance 1982 to bring discipline in the sector, said speakers at a consultation yesterday.
They said migrant workers want security of their family, land and properties they leave behind and so domestic laws should be framed in a way that protects interests of the wage earners.
The observations came at the programme titled "Reform of Emigration Ordinance 1982 and Migration Policy" organised by Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) of Dhaka University at Hotel Sonargaon in the city.
Addressing a session, expatriates' welfare Secretary Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan said it is very hard to bring the recruiting agencies to book for any wrongdoing under the existing laws and judicial system, which ultimately puts the migrant workers' rights at risk.
About the reform in the ordinance, Dr Zafar said it should be reformed as problem patterns of the expatriates and migrant workers are changing.
“But in the context of Bangladesh, many interest groups play a vital role during the formulation of a law for which sometimes it becomes impossible to enact tough laws,” he said at the concluding session of the daylong programme.
Chairing the session, Law Commission Acting Chairman Dr M Shah Alam said ways should be found out to protect the rights of the migrant workers who send home annually US $10 billion plus remittance, a lifeline for the country's economy.
He said some agencies cheating students in the name of university admission abroad should also be stopped.
RMMRU Chair Prof Tasneem Siddiqui presented the outcomes of the consultation.
She said the migration policy-2006 has a lot of good things for the expatriates, but the government is yet to frame any action plan to implement the policy.
The discussants in the technical session also said illegal migration is causing loss of labour markets and so the authorities concerned have to take measures to curb the phenomena.
Prof CR Abrar, coordinator of RMMRU, Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University, Begum Shamsun Nahar, joint secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, also spoke at the consultation.