The backbone of Bangladesh’s development
On December 18, 2021, we observed International Migrants Day.
This year in particular—when Bangladesh celebrates the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as well as 50 years of independence—we should take pause and reflect on the significant contributions that Bangladeshi migrants have historically made to the country, as well as the good they continue to do.
Bangladesh is poised to transition from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category, largely owing to steady and peaceful development throughout the first 50 years of the country's existence. In 1972, Bangladesh's GDP was USD 6.29 billion; now, it stands at around USD 324 billion (2020)—more than a 50-fold increase. Bangladeshi migrant workers have played a critical role in the country's achievements, and with some support, they can play an even bigger role in the next 50 years.
The theme of this year's International Migrants Day was "Harnessing the Potential of Human Mobility." With the Covid-19 pandemic and associated forced immobility dominating the global agenda over the last year and a half, it is easy to forget the vital role Bangladeshi migrants still play in defining the country's development trajectory. These facts are captured in this year's World Migration Report, where it is noted that Bangladeshis represent the sixth highest number of migrants in the world, and the country received the eighth highest amount of remittance in the world. While Covid-19 has impacted global supply chains and migration corridors to some extent, the development impact of Bangladeshis overseas remains remarkably constant.
It was heartening to see Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina articulate this point so well at the UN General Assembly in New York this year. In clear terms, she recognised the contribution of migrant workers in the economic growth and prosperity of home and host countries. Her call to the international community and migrant-receiving countries to treat migrant workers fairly and with empathy, and to help them regain employment in the post-pandemic job market shows great foresight. It reflects a sound commitment from the Government of Bangladesh. This is further cemented by the government's allocation of USD 361 million to support returning migrant workers.
This year's theme is reflected in Bangladesh's Eighth Five-Year Plan, which explicitly recognises the vital importance of migration in the development of Bangladesh and the need to have ethical, safe and transparent recruitment processes in place.
Bangladesh has always been a great advocate for the rights of migrants and their families. In fact, the country was the one who initially proposed the Global Compact for Migration itself at the UN General Assembly in 2016. The compact represents the first-ever globally accepted migration framework based on international cooperation and is a major step towards global recognition of the importance of well-managed migration for development. While the developmental benefits of migration are well-recognised academically and by practitioners, politically around the world, migrants are often used as scapegoats and unjustifiably blamed for challenges in other countries. We congratulate Bangladesh for raising migration issues to the highest global fora and defending the rights of migrants and the good they bring at home and abroad.
Bangladesh continues to play a pioneering role in implementing the Migration Compact—and has been officially recognised as a GCM "Champion Country." The Bangladesh United Nations Network on Migration remains committed to supporting Bangladesh to govern migration for the benefit of all. This includes ensuring maximum benefits for migrants and for Bangladesh at every stage of the migration cycle. Before migration, it is essential that aspirant migrants, including vulnerable women and men, are empowered to make informed migration decisions and are not left to be taken advantage of by smugglers or traffickers. It is also important that Bangladesh has the frameworks in place to protect labour migrants while abroad, including smuggled migrants in vulnerable situations. Much of this can be done through ensuring bona fide and ethical recruitment practices are in place. Still, work must also continue with labour attachés in Bangladesh's overseas missions and through extending Bangladesh's network of Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements, which secure the necessary protections in transit and destination countries for Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Important, too, is to continue the work around decreasing the cost of remittances. For Bangladesh to make the best developmental use of the significant amounts remitted to the country every year—the country must keep the cost of sending money home as low as possible. Too often, the best use of remittance is not made when they do arrive home. Some creative thinking is warranted about how policies can best incentivise the investment of remittances in productive pursuits. The network stands ready to support the government in this regard.
After return, the sustainable reintegration of migrants is also fundamental. This process is multi-faceted and multi-layered, including economic, social, and psychological reintegration, that requires interventions at the individual, community and structural levels. Though complex, we cannot deny the huge benefits that come from well reintegrated returnees. They bring knowledge, resources, money and their global networks into Bangladesh, and they must be recognised as a net good for the country.
The network and the entire UN system, under the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), remains committed to helping Bangladesh continue to serve as a shining example of the development benefits of well-planned migration, return and reintegration policies and programmes.
This article has been written by the Bangladesh United Nations Network on Migration: Fathima Nusrath Ghazzali, coordinator a.i. of Bangladesh United Nations Network on Migration, and acting chief of mission, IOM Bangladesh; Tuomo Poutiainen, UN resident coordinator a.i. in Bangladesh, and country director, ILO; Eiko Narita, representative a.i. of UNFPA Bangladesh; Asa Torkelsson, representative of the UNFPA; Johannes van der Klaauw, representative of the UNHCR; Sheldon Yett, representative of Unicef; Tomoo Hozumi, representative of Unicef; Sudipto Mukerjee, resident representative of the UNDP; Tullio Santini, regional representative a.i. of UNODC Regional Office for South Asia; and Gitanjali Singh, head of office a.i. of UN Women.
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