Speakers at a seminar on Tuesday highlighted the emerging challenges of labour migration from South Asia and urged all actors to work together to secure the rights of the migrants.
Speaking as the chief guest, PM’s Economic Affairs Adviser Dr. Mashiur Rahman spoke about the contribution of labour migrants to the South Asian economy and highlighted Bangladesh’s enthusiasm for working together with other countries.
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in collaboration with the Consortium of South Asian Think Tanks (COSATT) and Political Dialogue Asia Programme, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) organised the regional seminar on “Labour Migrants from South Asia: Issues and Concerns” at BIISS auditorium.
Additional Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Khairul Alam spoke as special guest.
BIISS Chairman Ambassador AFM Gousal Azam Sarker chaired the inaugural session while Director General of BIISS Major General Md Abu Bakar Siddique Khan and Convener, COSATT Dr. Nishchal N. Pandey delivered welcome remarks.
Regional Programme, Political Dialogue Asia, KAS, Singapore Andreas Klein Director also spoke.
The seminar was divided into two working sessions. The first working session was focused on “Labour Migrants from South Asia: Contemporary Challenges” which was chaired by Dr Tasneem Siddiqui, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Political Science, University of Dhaka.
Five presenters: Md Shariful Hasan, Programme Head, BRAC Migration Programme; Dr Mallika Joseph, Senior Fellow, WISCOMP, New Delhi; Mahesh Raj Bhatta, Research Officer, Centre for South Asian Studies, Kathmandu; Shishir Khanal, Member of Parliament, Kathmandu and Col. Nalin Herath, acting Director General, Institute of National Security Studies, Colombo participated in the first session.
The second working session was concentrated on “Addressing Challenges: Regional Cooperation and Partnerships”.
It was chaired by Megha Sarmah, Programme Manager 2030 Agenda, KAS, Singapore.
The second session also had five presentations from Dr. Benuka Ferdousi, Senior Research Fellow, BIISS; Sugeeswara Senadhira, Advisor, the Prime Minister’s Office, Colombo; Hernaikh Singh, Deputy Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, Anu Maria Joseph, Research Associate, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, Dr. Anasua Bosu Ray Choudhury, Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata.
Senior officials from different ministries, diplomats, senior civil and military officials, media, academia, researchers, faculties and students from various universities, and representatives from international organisations participated in the seminar.