December 18 is celebrated as the International Migrants Day. This is to mark the adoption on December 18, 1990 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrants Workers and Members of their Families. The United Nations declared December 18 as the International Migrants Day through a resolution (No. 55/93) adopted on December 4, 2000.
However, the Convention came to effect on July 1, 2003 with the ratification by 20 State Parties. The number of ratifying states is now 44.
Given the context of being a migrant workers (majority are contractual labour for a specific period of time) exporting country, the Migrants Day has a great significance in Bangladesh.
Tough Bangladesh has signed the Convention back in 1998; however, it did not ratify the instrument in the last one decade. However, good news is that the present government has decided to ratify the Convention. This is a good move.
However, merely ratification will not bring any benefit unless the provisions of the Convention is adopted in the form of national legal framework and implemented effectively. There will be need for policy and administrative measures to streamline migration sector.
Though the Convention is a human rights instrument, however, it prescribes procedures for management and governance of migration and protection of rights of migrants both at the sending and receiving ends.
Despite of having a great potential and huge economic contribution, the migration sector in Bangladesh is apparently left neglected and is facing hurdle with tremendous challenges from lack of skills of would-be migrants, limitations in capacity and skills in managing migration both in public and private sectors, lack of governance, and growing trends of abuses and exploitation of migrants at home and abroad.
There is lack of political will supplemented by lack of administrative and legal measures. At the same time, the existing legal frameworks prove to be outdated to regulate and it is not taken to implement effectively.
The government should also focus all its activities to promote and expand safe-migration.
The so-called anti-human trafficking initiatives and drives, which tantamount to curtail people’s right to move, should be modified and turned to be focused on promoting safe and regular migration. That would contribute to curb trafficking.
The destination countries and development partners should also move forward in that direction.
Dr. Uttam Kumar Das
Advocate
Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Dhaka
E-mail: udas1971@gmail.com
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