Dhaka seeks SAARC platform to protect workers

Bangladesh has moved to forge a regional platform to protect the rights of migrant workers from SAARC countries, an adviser said Tuesday, a move that has gained urgency after the roughshod treatment of Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait.

Dhaka feels there should be a common stance on migrant workers as Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka that compose the regional grouping are the largest labour suppliers to different countries including the Middle Eastern states.

The unskilled or semi-skilled workers from the South Asian countries are often subjected to exploitation in different labour-receiving countries.

If SAARC could take a common position on migrant workers, the host countries would in some cases be forced to treat the expatriates better, foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told bdnews24.com.

“We will soon make definite recommendations (for protection and welfare of workers) to the SAARC secretariat,” he said.

Iftekhar said Bangladesh raised the issue with the Heads of Government of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation at the just concluded 15th summit in Colombo.

“We feel that SAARC should adopt a common strategy to protect the rights and promote the welfare of (South Asian) workers,” said Iftekhar.

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed at the summit stressed the need for guaranteeing the welfare of the migrant workers of the South Asia. The expatriate workers from South Asia, mainly Bangladesh, staged a series of violent protest in Kuwait demanding pay hikes and better working conditions.

The Kuwaiti employers allegedly paid poor money and in some cases, the workers would get Tk 2000 a month. They did not have any effective mechanism to let the Kuwaiti Government know the facts on labour exploitation there, he added.