A two-day workshop on mainstreaming migration into national development strategies began in the capital on Wednesday. The objective of the workshop is to generate recommendations on how migration can be mainstreamed into national development programmes and plans in the country, officials said.
Expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain inaugurated the workshop at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel.
Speaking as chief guest, the minister said the government was working to ensure that migrants could go abroad at minimum cost.
Through G2G arrangements, more recently workers were sent to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Bahrain, he said.
A worker now needs Tk 32,000 to go to Malaysia when in the past private recruiting agencies charged over Tk 200,000 for the same service, Mosharraf said.
The government has recently approved the overseas employment and migrant workers bill 2013 proposing seven-year rigorous imprisonment and fine of Tk 300,000 for forgery of workers’ demand letter, visa and work permit, the minister noted.
Acknowledging the role of migration as a contributor to the socio-economic development of a nation, the government must continue its efforts to mainstream migration into the development process, he said.
Sarat Dash, IOM mission chief in Bangladesh, appreciated the government of Bangladesh for making significant progress in promoting migration by taking various initiates.
The government-to-government arrangement
has drastically brought down the migration cost here, she said, adding
that the overseas employment and migrant workers bill 2013 in Bangladesh would help enhance capacity and market exploration.
Foreign secretary Shahidul Haque, EWOE
secretary Jafar Ahmed Khan, SDC head of cooperation Derek Muller, UNDP country director Pauline Tamesis, among others, spoke at the inaugural function.
The workshop is a part of a Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation-supported IOM-UNDP joint global project
being implemented in Jamaica, Moldova, Tunisia and Bangladesh, officials said.
The workshop is focusing on four themes — migration in the 6th five-year plan of Bangladesh, internal migration policy in Bangladesh, the role of ministries dealing with migration and contribution of remittances to the economy of Bangladesh, they said.
The participants in the workshop will engage in the drafting of national
action plan for incorporating migration in to the development agenda, they said.
-With New Age input
