Migrant Workers Get Harassed for Lack of Implementation of Migration Laws

19 February, 2018

A Knowledge Sharing Workshop on safe migration with Multi-Stakeholders & Networks took place on 19th October 2017 in Cox’s Bazar, which was organized by Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration & Development (PCMD). Mr. Israfil Alam, MP, Chair, PCMD was the chief guest of the workshop. The programme was moderated by Didarul Alam Rashed, Executive Director, Nongor. Mr. Israfil Alam, MP, Chair, PCMD in his welcome speech praised the Government of Bangladesh on its work on the Rohingya issues. He also mentioned the development works and also the attempts to rehabilitate the Rohingya people. Then he talked about the other Divisional level knowledge sharing workshops on safe migration with multi stakeholders & networks. Then he talked about the objectives of the program.The objectives of this workshop are- To share knowledge about safe migration process, regular channels and reduce migration cost. To strengthen the networking capacity of BOAF in National & Divisional Level. Understanding the role of network to effective intervention for migrants’ rights issue. After that Ms. Jasiya Khatoon, Director, WARBE Development Foundation, talked about the activities of Parliamentarian Caucus on Migration & Development. The caucus has been organizing different programs in different divisions. At the same time the members of this caucus also participated in the international events to discuss migration issues. Mr. Saiful Haque, Chairman, WARBE Development Foundation briefly talked about the migration scenario. He talked about how the migrant workers face difficulties in the process of migration. He said that from 1976 to till now 1,11,879 people has migrated as migrant workers in almost 162 countries. Mr. Forkan, Victim to the act caused by middleman, said that he went to Malaysia by the help of a middleman named Yeasin and his assistance named Romiz. But on his way he was captured by the Thai Police for being undocumented and he had to spend 9 months in jail. Another victim Md. Ishak, Sabrang, Teknaf said that due to the hassle created by the Passport Office and corruption by the police he could not create his passport. Then he came to know about going to abroad without any passport by using ship from a middleman named Abul Kashem. There were 139 people with him who had to face a very miserable situation. YPSA helped him to rehabilitate. Md. Morshed, another victim from Saint Martin, Teknaf said that on 26th March 2015, he was trafficked forcefully when he did not have any desire to go abroad. He said that there were more than 2500 people from Bangladesh and Myanmar. He had to go through a very miserable situation on that time. Somehow he got rescued. Md. Nazrul Islam, Gorjoniya, Ramu shared his experience with the audience. He said that he wanted to go to Malaysia, so he asked an owner of a fishing board to take him to Malaysia. On that boat he saw there were more than 750 people, from them 400 people were Bangladeshi. He had to live in jail for 2 years and 9 months in Thailand. Victim Shumon Barua, West Baruapara, Cox’s Bazar told that a middleman named Ziaur Rahman took him to teknaf promising that he will send Shumon in regular way to abroad. Shumon was sold by the middleman for 15,000 taka. Then he was taken in the trawler where there were 15 more people like him. They were given few amounts of dry foods and 5 liters water to survive. After 15days hey reached in Thailand where they were tortured and forced to call in their house to give 3 lakhs taka as ransom for their life. Then after one month he was captured by the Thai police and he had to stay in the jail for 11months. Ms. Joshna Akter, Choukoria said that middleman Dilowara told her to give her 3,50,000 taka to go to Saudi Arab. So Joshna gave her 40,000 taka initially and then she get her visa checked. Then she realized that she was being trafficked to Bahrain. After that she flew in Dhaka and she was being threatened by the middleman. When she complaint against her to the UNO, the matter started to solve. Mr. Faruque Ahmed, Secretary General, WARBE Development Foundation talked briefly about the activities of WARBE Development Foundation. Mr. Nazmul Ahsan, Chairman, BOAF talked about the contributions of the migrant workers in economy of Bangladesh. Md. Ali Jinnat, Staff Reporter, Daily Star said that there have been series of reports about issues of migration and trafficking. He said that the prominent figures of the society are involved in trafficking. Ms. Saleha Khatun, British Council, talked briefly about the PROKAS Programme. And then she advised the audience to query in DEMO office before going to abroad. Ms. Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia, MP, was very disappointed to hear about the stories about the victims. She mentioned that the vulnerable situation of these innocent people cannot be ignored.

19 February, 2018

The consultation on Recruiting Sub-Agents/ Middlemen for Ethical and Fair Recruitment of Migrant Workers’ was held at CIRDAP auditorium on Wednesday. At least 30 middlemen who hailed from different districts of the country demanded their recognition as sub-agents of the recruiting agencies under the legal framework. They urged the authorities concerned to facilitate them doing organizations like Bangladesh Association International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) to jointly work in the migration sector. Parliamentary Caucus on Migration and Development member and lawmaker Md Altaf Ali was chief guest while migrant rights campaigners, academics, BAIRA leaders and government officials were also present. Migrant rights organization WARBE Development Foundation in collaboration with PROKAS programme of British Council organized the consultation. Sub Agent Abul Kalam who has been working as middleman at Comilla Sadar for last 25 years said that under contact with recruiting agencies he collected migrant workers, money, travel documents and submitted them in Dhaka offices of recruiting for sending them abroad. If the recruiting agencies cheat, delayed, failed to send the workers abroad, all blames came to middlemen, he said, adding that middlemen could only earn Tk 10,000 to Tk 15,000 from each worker but they had to face huge pressure. Another middleman Porimal Halder Badal who hailed from Savar said that he has been doing job as sub agent for last 12 years. He demanded the authorities to bring them legal frame work for ensuring their rights and also for ensuring safe migration. Porimal said that police always harassed middlemen and extorted money from them while they took the workers to recruiting agency office for processing recruitment or taking them to the medical center for checkup. Middleman Masuduzzaman Liton hailing from Tangail said that although middlemen have been playing significant role in the country, but they could not be identified with dignity. He demanded the government to bring them under legal framework and recruiting agencies to provide them ID cards. Female broker Shamsun Nahar Putul said that she was engaged in sending workers abroad as her sons and other middlemen sent her visas from UAE and Qatar. WARBE Development Foundation chairman Syed Saiful Haque who moderated the consultation said that there were huge number of middlemen at home and at destination countries and they were engaged in collecting visas and sending workers for overseas jobs. He called for creating awareness about the existing laws and overseas employment rules among the middlemen to help ensuring safe and orderly migration. Lawmaker Md Altaf Ali said that the government along with all stakeholders of the migration sector would work together to find out ways to manage middlemen. Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training director Nurul Islam, BAIRA joint secretary general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman and Dhaka University associate professor or International Relations Tanzimuddin Khan among others spoke at the function.

19 February, 2018

Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development on Wednesday called for taking immediate initiatives to control the thousands of recruitment middlemen by bringing them under the purview of law to protect the migrant workers getting cheated and harassed by middlemen. They made the remarks while speaking at ‘Hearing on Migrants Rights Violation for Ensuring Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration’ at Parliament members club, organized by the Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development. Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament Md Fazle Rabbi Miah MP attended the hearing as chief guest and he urged the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment for taking necessary steps to bring an amendment to the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013 accommodating the issues of middlemen. Hearing the migrants’ problems, he said that the middlemen were cheating the migrant workers who were seeking overseas jobs and by this ways they were creating obstacles on remittances inflows. ‘The remittance inflow will get seriously hampered unless the migrant workers are protected from the clutch of the middlemen,’ he said. Chairman of Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development Md Israfil Alam MP who presided over the hearing said that the migrants were often being cheated by the middlemen who should be brought under regulations to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration. ‘Every year thousands of workers, mostly the youths, are migrating to overseas countries either getting pushed by the poverty or expecting their better life abroad. They are often cheated by the middlemen,’ he said. Members of Parliamentarian Caucus on Migration and Development Advocate Hoseney Ara Lutfa Dalia MP, Salina Jahan Lita MP and Safura Begum MP, among others also spoke at the hearing. They heard sufferings of male and female migrants who have come from different districts being cheated by the middlemen at home and by employers at destination countries of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar. They raised complaints of charging high cost of migration, cheating, sexual abuse, overload of works, and denial of wages. At least 10 middlemen participated in the hearing and they demanded their legal recognition as sub agents by law with the recruiting agencies concerned to make recruitment process more transparent. WARBE Development Foundation secretary general Faruque Ahmed said that some of female workers were sent back home after getting them pregnant abroad. He urged the government to take legal actions against the sexual violation in the destination countries by Bangladesh embassy concern, so that they could get their compensations. University teacher Israt Shamim said that the government should send workers abroad after providing them training. WARBE Development Foundation chairman Syed Saiful Haque said that the middlemen should be brought under legal framework. Later, the members of the Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development had a meeting with civil society members and development partners at same venue and discussed about Bangladesh’s participation at the stocktaking meeting to be held in Mexico in next December.

22 October, 2017

The introductory dialogue between the Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development and the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies on Safe, Orderly, Regular Migration was held at the BAIRA conference room on Wednesday. Chairman of Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development Israfil Alam MP who spoke at the dialogue as the chief guest urged the BAIRA leaders to keep the list of 1,400 members posted on its website with performance records so that the migrant workers, the main target groups, could choose better recruiting agencies to get services for migration. Israfil Alam requested all of the registered recruiting agencies to provide ID cards to their sub-agents under specific codes of conducts. ‘I think that such system can protect migrant workers from exploitation of the middlemen and help upholding reputation of the recruiting agencies,’ he said. Members of the Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development and lawmakers Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia MP, Altaf Ali MP and Suhrab Uddin MP were also present at the introductory dialogue with BAIRA. BAIRA resident Benjir Ahmed, who presided over meeting, said that the recruiting agencies having licenses from the government could never traffic workers so they should not be harassed by law enforcing agencies. Benjir Ahmed, a former MP, urged the government to select Commercially Important Persons (CIP) from the BAIRA members considering their contribution to the national economy. BAIRA secretary general Ruhul Amin requested the government to cancel the system of attestation of job visas by the labour attaches saying that the system was backdated and computerized digital system could now check the authenticity of the job visas. WARBE development Foundation chairman Syed Saiful Haque lauded the significant role of recruiting agencies which sent more than one crore workers abroad. He urged the BAIRA leaders to come up with positive attitudes and play due role in ensuring safe, orderly and regular migration from Bangladesh. WARBE Development Foundation secretary general Faruque Ahmed and BAIRA joint secretary general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, representatives of British Council’ PROKAS programme Tanvir Mahmud and Saleha Khatun among other leaders were present at the dialogue.

12 October, 2017

Lawmakers, migrant rights activists and recruiting agents on Monday called upon the labour recipient countries and the international community for taking measures to ensure ‘protections and rights’ of migrant workers. They also called for ensuring the migrant workers leading dignified life as human beings as they were contributing to development activities.. They made their urges at the multisectoral national consultation on Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, organized by Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development, at the CIRDAP auditorium in the city. Chairman of the Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development Md Israfil Alam presided over the consultation which was addressed by lawmaker Hosene Ara Lutfa Dalia and top representatives from government, non-government and international organizations. Speaking as chief guest, foreign secretary Shahidul Haque said that the migration has become a highly political issue in the globe and rights of migrants were being violated in the ways of migration and at the workplace in the countries of destinations. ‘As migrants are human being, so their rights should be protected,’ he said. Shahidul Haque said that punitive measures against right violators should be taken in the global compact to be adopted by the UN for safe, orderly and regular migration. Lawmaker Israfil Alam said that Bangladesh government along with the civil society members has raised the migrants’ issues in the United Nations seeking help of the international community to ensure the migrant workers at the destination countries. ‘As our migrants are suffering many problems abroad, so we have to raise the voices first,’ he said. WARBE Development Foundation chairman Syed Saiful Haque who presented the draft recommendations for safe, orderly and regular migration said that the migrant workers should be sent abroad to work abroad under the bilateral agreements not on the basis of memorandum of understandings to ensure protection of their rights at destination countries. He said that polices to be formulated in light of the global compact should have to be implemented properly with strict monitoring in Bangladesh to protect rights of migrants at home. Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program chairman Shakirul Islam said that Bangladesh government should take diplomatic measures to convince the European countries not to send back the undocumented Bangladeshi migrants. He called the global leaders not consider migrants as security threat as they were contributing to the economic development with their labours and skills. Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) joint secretary general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman said that Bangladesh has become the largest labour outsourcing country in the world. ‘The trend will continue in the next 10 years. So it is the time for Bangladesh to turn the huge population into skilled manpower with providing communicative proficiency to lead in the global labour market,’ he said. Sarwar Binte Islam of Manusher Jonno Foundation said Bangladesh as sending country should take necessary policy to use the opportunities of manpower dividend. Binoy Krishna Mallick. Executive Director of Rights Jessore said that the skilled workers should be sent abroad to reduce problems of migrants in the countries of origins and destinations. He also called for taking measures to ensure migrants leading dignified life. Films4Peace Foundation chairman Pervez Siddiqui, team leader of British Council PROKAS programme Catherine Cecil, National programme officer at International Labour Organizations Ruhnuma Salam Khan and executive committee member of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit SN Azad also spoke at the meeting. Share This Post, Choose Your Platform! FacebookTwitterLinkedinTumblrGoogle+Pinterest

25 September, 2017

Migrants’ rights campaigners, recruiting agents and government officials have called for taking combined efforts of all of the stakeholders to ensure safe, orderly and dignified migration from Bangladesh. They made the call while speaking at a workshop on “National Plan of Action (NPA) on Migration in the Light of Relevant Laws and Policies” at the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training Conference Room on Sunday. WARBE Development Foundation organized the workshop, which was attended by returnee migrants, their family members, migration researchers, lawyers and representatives from various government and non-government organizations. Speaking as chief guest BMET director general Md Salim Reza said that they were working to make the migration services easier and reach services to the people’s doorsteps through decentralization of different activities. ‘We are committed to protect the migrant workers from getting cheated,’ he said, adding that the national action plans which would be prepared with suggestions of the stakeholders would be implemented to ensure welfare to the migrant workers at home and abroad. Declaring himself as ‘reform-oriented man’ Salim Reza said that he already set vision to turn the BMET into a number one department, improve the training facilities of the technical training centers and also ensure safe migration. BMET director Nurul Islam who moderated the workshop said that the national plan of action must be time bound and all stakeholders must work jointly to solve the problems of the migrant workers. ‘Our main concern is to reduce the migration cost for the outbound workers,’ he said. WARBE development foundation chairman Syed Saiful Haque said that it was urgently necessary to formulate the national plan of action for safe and orderly migration and ensure its proper implementation. ‘The recruiting agencies who are major stakeholders must take their responsibility to ensure migration,’ he said, adding that all concerned should take efforts to help ensure zero cost migration for the workers. INAFI Bangladesh executive director Atiqul Nabi said that a comfortable situation should be created for Bangladesh migrants with ensuring safe, orderly and dignified migration from Bangladesh. Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies ‘ joint secretary general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman said that due to lack of skills, Bangladeshi migrants were getting lower wages abroad although they were paying the higher cost of migration in comparing cost with other sending countries. Bangladesh Data Management and Research Center’ Chief Executive Officer Aminul Islam Monju said that Bangladeshi migrants in the Middle East countries were facing many problems and they were also paid lower wages than it offered before the departure. WARBE development foundation director Jasiya Khatoon who presented keynote said that there were so many challenges for safe migration governance in the country. Challenges include lack of safe migration information, existence of middlemen, less skill migration, sponsor or kafala system in gulf countries, visa trading, high cost of migration, lack protection measures for migrants, lack of re-integration, lack access to justice and weakness implementing laws, she said.