Recruiting agencies at both sides need to be made responsible for failing to protect migrant workers and actions need to be taken against the unscrupulous visa traders at both the sending and destination countries, in line with the 2015 Agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia for the protection of migrant workers.
Participants also re-emphasised women’s right to safe migration prior to the Bangladesh-Saudi Arabia Joint Technical Committee (JTC) meeting, at a discussion on gendered-mobility and rights of women migrants at a pre-JTC consultation held on Saturday 23rd November 2019.
The pre-JTC discussion on ‘Gendered-mobility and rights of women migrants’ took place at Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre (BKTTC) and was co-hosted by IID Migration Unit, Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendra (BNSK), BRAC Migration Program and Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP) with support from British Council’s PROKAS program.
The discussion on the session included commitments and progress of the implementation of the ‘Agreement on Domestic Service Workers Recruitment’ that Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia signed in 2015 to protect the rights of domestic workers, demands more attention than before. As well as implementing the outcomes of JTC Meeting 2018 and improving MUSANED as agreed.
A brief report on the progress and recommendations for the implementation of the Agreement was submitted to the secretary on behalf of the CSOs for Global Commitments on Migration (CGCM). Recommendation from the brief report includes, service workers’ access to a 24-hour support service, investigate recruiting agencies on both sides and take action against the unscrupulous visa traders, update the system on a regular basis and incorporate the abilities to change occupation, transfer sponsorship, medical insurance profiling etc.
Md. Salim Reza, Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, attended the discussion as the Chief Guest. Mahjabeen Khaled, Former Member of Parliament and Member of Bangladesh Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development also joined the event as Special Guest.
The secretary promised to raise all the recommendations discussed on the event at the Bangladesh-Saudi JTC.
