Dear Chairperson, Dear Secretary General and other Members of the Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development of Bangladesh National Parliament,

Mr. Benjir Ahmed, MP, President, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA)

Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Former Foreign Secretary Mr. Md. Shahidul Haque

Distinguished  Panelists and Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Assalamu Alaikum Peace be upon you.

Let me take the opportunity to thank the Parliamentarians’ Caucus on Migration and Development, WARBE Development Foundation and PROKAS for organizing this national consultative meeting prior to the 13^th GFMD Summit.

Distinguished Guests,

At the outset, I pay my deepest respect to our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and I am pleased to let you know that currently we are celebrating 100^th anniversary of our Father of  the Nation and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh.

Last year, I had the privilege to lead the Bangladesh delegation to the GFMD in Ecuador and we had very fruitful discussions and exchange of views. Since its inception in 2007, GFMD has continued to demonstrate its worth as a global platform for generating trust, confidence and cooperation on international migration among the global community. As GFMD provides a voluntary, non-binding and government-led process, the member states, civil societies and other stakeholders can freely engage in the process in an effective manner. Furthermore, over the years, this process has operated through a participatory working method that encourages a wide cross-section of stakeholders from varied background to participate and contribute to the process.

Dear all,

The United Arab Emirates, the current Chair of GFMD has identified six themes for the upcoming GFMD summit with a key objective to remain future focused, to establish partnerships and cooperation between countries and other stakeholders. All these themes have special significance, in particular in the context of post Covid-19 period. We equally emphasize on the importance of regional perspectives on migration which will be considered during the summit roundtables for the first time and I applaud UAE’s lead in organizing five online regional consultations. 

We further appreciate UAE’s initiative through which GFMD Migration Lab has been used to identify opportunities to use partnerships to tackle migration-related challenges and investigate options for putting them into practice.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bangladesh has always been playing a leading role on migration as Bangladesh considers migration as an integral path to development both for the country of origin and the country of destination. Under the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh played a key role in the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) and the New York Declaration (NYD).  The Government of Bangladesh has been working continuously in line with the recommendations of major international processes and is an active participant in various regional and sub-regional platforms. We have included migration in our national policies like 5 year plans and Perspective Plan due to its multidimensional socio-economic aspects and strong relation with our foreign policy objectives.  Bangladesh will continue to promote safe, regular and orderly migration at domestic, regional and global level. Due to the proactive measure of the government, we now have the highest amount of inward remittance.

I would like to draw your attention to a historical fact. Migrants are never a burden. They are the partners of development, engine of creativity and innovation. They create jobs and help the growth of the economy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bangladesh is the host of 1.1 million Rohingyas who were forcibly displaced from their ancestral home. Again, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries due to climatic change. A large number of our population is being displaced due to erratic climate changes every year and we call them climate migrants. As per varieties of estimate, if there is one meter rise in sea level, nearly 25 to 30 million people of Bangladesh will be uprooted from their sweet homes.  Bangladesh cannot handle such a huge uprooted population alone, we need effective and proactive support from the international community. No wonder, Bangladesh would like to see more tangible outcomes from this year’s GFMD so that people all over can understand the significance and benefit of having GFMD.

Currently, it is in the high priority of the Government of Bangladesh to skill our prospective migrant workers and up skill and re-skill the returnee migrants for a successful migration journey through training and capacity building.  Simultaneously, we are focused to take the advantage of technology for the welfare of the migrant workers at all stages of migration especially during their stay abroad.  We would definitely like to be better equipped with the support of technology and for that we have introduced different apps. The Government has also been working to improve the data management by developing a more comprehensive database and connecting various ICT-based information services to provide assistance for the aspirant and returnee migrants and to ensure their protection.

We need to highlight these aspects during the forthcoming summit and I request all to raise these issues at the roundtables and other discussions, for a meaningful workable outcome.

Distinguished Guests,

During the trying times of Covid-19, we have seen many of the migrant workers lost their jobs and were in great difficulties as they were not covered by the social safety nets of the countries of destination. Moreover, a large number of migrant workers were living or forced to live in crowded environment which were risky for transmission of the virus. As such, in order to see effective international governance of migration and to address the gaps to protect migrants, GFMD should take more right-based approach and include protection measures in the migration policies.  Migrant workers need to be included in the social and judicial protection system of the countries of destination to address the gap. We need to ensure migrants’ rights from the early stage of ethical recruitment to wage, health and job protection. For that to happen, international community should play key role through platforms like GFMD so that migrant workers are well covered by legal mechanisms in the host countries. In addition, we firmly believe that GFMD can play a crucial and proactive role in effective implementation of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) which is landmark initiative for migrants’ protection.

In conclusion, I would like to express my hope that this consultative meeting with the engagement of the civil society members will bring forth a number of constructive recommendations for a coherent migration and development approach to place during the 13^th GFMD Summit and highlight the concerns and recommendations of Bangladesh.

I thank you all for your invitation.

Joi Bangla, Joi Banganandhu.