Govt to ratify UN convention on protection of migrants
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
FE Report
Bangladesh is going ahead to ratify the UN treaty on the protection of migrants in a move to polish its image as one of top labour exporting nations in the world, officials said Tuesday.
The 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families came into force in June 2005. Bangladesh signed it in 1998, with the ratification pending.
Rights groups view the ratification critical, but officials are fearful about the potential retaliation from Bangladesh's major destination countries with most of them having notorious record of violation of human rights.
"An inter-ministerial meeting will be convened shortly to further discuss the long-pending issue," a Foreign Ministry official told the FE.
"The Convention has two sides. It can be effective to reduce the vulnerability of our migrant workers. But it may backfire, if receiving countries see it through a different prism," the official involved in the ratification process added.
The United Nations treaty represents the most comprehensive instrument available to define the social, economic and cultural rights of migrant workers and their family members.
It recognises the vulnerability of migrant workers and their family members, and the need for international protection.
Foreign Ministry officials noted that the ratification would help enhance the country's image, sending a message to the outside world that Bangladesh is not only a major migrant exporting nation but a caring nation as well.
Another official said: "We're alarmed. It's still unclear how our receiving countries would take it," said a Foreign Ministry official, adding: "our good intentions will not yield positive results if they stop recruitment from Bangladesh."
But rights groups say the experiences of Sri Lanka and the Philippines show that ratification will not impinge on Bangladesh's relationships with labour receiving countries.
Bangladesh is going ahead to ratify the UN treaty on the protection of migrants in a move to polish its image as one of top labour exporting nations in the world, officials said Tuesday.
The 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families came into force in June 2005. Bangladesh signed it in 1998, with the ratification pending.
Rights groups view the ratification critical, but officials are fearful about the potential retaliation from Bangladesh's major destination countries with most of them having notorious record of violation of human rights.
"An inter-ministerial meeting will be convened shortly to further discuss the long-pending issue," a Foreign Ministry official told the FE.
"The Convention has two sides. It can be effective to reduce the vulnerability of our migrant workers. But it may backfire, if receiving countries see it through a different prism," the official involved in the ratification process added.
The United Nations treaty represents the most comprehensive instrument available to define the social, economic and cultural rights of migrant workers and their family members.
It recognises the vulnerability of migrant workers and their family members, and the need for international protection.
Foreign Ministry officials noted that the ratification would help enhance the country's image, sending a message to the outside world that Bangladesh is not only a major migrant exporting nation but a caring nation as well.
Another official said: "We're alarmed. It's still unclear how our receiving countries would take it," said a Foreign Ministry official, adding: "our good intentions will not yield positive results if they stop recruitment from Bangladesh."
But rights groups say the experiences of Sri Lanka and the Philippines show that ratification will not impinge on Bangladesh's relationships with labour receiving countries.