As hefty amount of remittance is sent from the Gulf countries by a great many Bangladeshi workers, it is imperative for Bangladeshi High Commissions to prioritise migration related services in these countries. Particularly, as offices and relatives cannot do much from the distance, Bangladeshi High Commissions needs to play a key role to ensure the protection of the human rights of migrant workers in these destinations countries. As an effective measure, a few model high commissions can be set up which will provide assistance to migrants regarding human rights, irrespective of the status.
In this context, IID’s 19th Policy Breakfast held on November 24th 2018 brought together representatives from government institutions, civil society organizations, development partners and media to discuss the steps that are needed— in relation to the intra-ministerial coordination, political commitment and public-private partnership— to explore the possibility of a Model High Commission/Embassy for promoting fairer labour migration.
Download the Agenda of the Policy Breakfast
see more photos of the 19th Policy Breakfast
Participants unanimously agreed that it is crucial to ensure the expertise of the Labour Attachés (LA) before deploying them to any embassy. It was suggested that an extensive training module for the LAs should be introduced. The significance of an IT-based reform in the system was also pointed out. The discussants emphasised on the importance of an orientation programme at the embassies in the host countries to ensure migrant friendly environment and services.
The discussion also revolved around the issues of middlemen eradication, utilization of mobile applications to create awareness, better budget allocation for migration among others.
Syeed Ahamed, CEO of IID, moderated the event. Md. Salim Reza, DG, BMET, Md. Nurul Islam, Director, BMET, Syed Saiful Haque, Chairperson of WARBE Development Foundation, Sumaiya Islam, Director of BOMSA attended the policy breakfast among others.
The government officials at the event pledged to move forward to a pro-active and service-oriented migration program.
