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May 2021
Interview with Farooq Ahmed, Secretary-General at the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF)
Safe migration and decent work are among the main concerns regarding Migration in Bangladesh. In this interview, Farooq Ahmed shares their role and perspective on this topic, and sheds some light on the concerns regarding return and reintegration of migrant workers due to Covid-19:
As a national employers' federation, what is your role (or position) with regards to the mobility of skills (in your own country as a country of origin as well as the respective countries of destination)?
Bangladesh Employers' Federation (BEF) works mainly at the decision-making level, which includes policy development and policy advocacy. Since its founding in 1998, BEF has been working with government agencies as well as development partners and NGOs to promote safe migration and fair recruitment, to mitigate the cost of migration, and reintegrate the returnee migrants.
Can you describe some of the activities that are a consequence of your engagement on skills mobility (in your own country as a country of origin as well as the respective countries of destination)?
As an implementing partner of “Services to the Returnee Migrants” an initiative taken by ILO, Bangladesh Employers‟ Federation (BEF) has already developed a training module on "Business and Financial Management for Returnee Migrant" and established two (2) Migrant Resource Centres in Chottogram and Sylhet. Besides, BEF is developing a database on the returnee migrants which is in the process.
The Federation organized a seminar titled “Migration: Where do we stand?” on 14 March 2019 at the conference room of BEF secretariat. The objective of the seminar was to make the social partners aware of the progress made in regulating the migration process globally by the ILO.
BEF jointly with ILO organized a first-ever job fair for returnee migrant workers in Dhaka on 24 May 2015 with the support from ILO Promoting Decent Work through Improved Migration Policy and its Application in Bangladesh, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The job fair aimed at reintegrating migrant workers into the national economy. Over 1,000 returnee migrant workers attended the job fair where they met with eighteen (18) employers from a wide range of sectors.
What are the main pertinent issues in relation to COVID-19 and migrant workers and how do you address them?
As per the government estimation, at least 400,000 migrant workers returned before borders closed. Migrant workers were laid off without any compensation and were compelled to return to their home districts in Bangladesh. They experienced reintegration challenges, which include securing employment, financial problems, and health-related issues.
Therefore, the biggest challenge now is to reintegrate these returnee migrant workers into the national economy.
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