Speakers at a national consultation urged the government on Monday to ratify the ILO convention 189 to help ensure domestic workers' rights at home and abroad.
They said although the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 189 was adopted in 2011, Bangladesh government is yet to ratify it. Bureaucracy and civil society's feeling of sloth are reasons behind the delay in the ratification of the convention, they said.
Rights campaigners have also chalked out two-year long different programmes demanding ratification of the ILO convention 189. These include workshop, public service announcement, leafleting, rally etc.
Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) and Domestic Workers Rights Network (DWRN) jointly organised the programme in collaboration with the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) at a city hotel on the day.
Rights activist said domestic workers are deprived of their due rights at home and abroad. Most of the workers are being tortured and harassed by their employers.
If this convention is endorsed by the government, employers will come under an accountability of ensuring the due rights of domestic helps, they opined.
The ILO Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers set minimum standards for a worker including wage, working hour, occupational safety and health, social security etc.
Rights groups said many Bangladeshi domestic helps working abroad are facing severe tortures at their workplaces.
It will be easy to enhance bargaining capacity for the protection of migrant domestic helps after ratification of the instrument.
However, except Philippines, so far no country has ratified the convention, according to the consultation.
Dr C R Abrar, Executive Director(ED) of RMMRU, Zafrul Hasan, ED of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, Abul Hossain, coordinator of DWRN, Myleen Inohiaban, representative of MFA, among others, were present at the consultation.
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