Returnee Bangladeshi migrant workers demand soft loans
Development organisations who work with migrants workers formed a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club Friday
Several organisations, including Bangladesh Ovibashi Adhikar Forum (BOAF), have demanded easy loans for Bangladeshi migrant workers who have returned home after losing their jobs.
According to the organisations, 2.72 lakh migrant workers have returned to the country from last April to November after losing their jobs.
The organisations formed a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club Friday on the occasion of International Migrants Day.
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Saiful Haque, chairman of WARBE Development Foundation, said, "Migrant workers need to be provided with soft loans if we want to integrate them into the country's workflow and utilise their skills. The workers and families dependent on them have to be brought under social safety programmes."
At the human chain, WARBE Development Foundation, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit, Bangladesh Ovibashi Adhikar Forum, Bangladeshi Ovibashi Mohila Sramik Association, and Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program issued a joint statement.
The statement said that steps should be taken to monitor the safety of women workers from the beginning of the migration process to their return. More migration-friendly laws and policies will also have to be enacted.
The United Nations observes International Migrants Day on 18 December. Bangladesh has set the theme of the day as "Mujib Borsho er Ahoban, Dokkho Hoye Bidesh Jan," which translates to "Call of Mujib Year, Go Abroad after Becoming Skilled."
