President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday called on all stakeholders to take effective measures to establish a neutral, orderly, affordable and transparent migration system.
“Migration should be viewed as one of the important means of development and poverty reduction,” he said.
The President made the remarks when a delegation of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (Rmmru), led by its Executive Director Tasneem Siddiqui, paid a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban.
During the meeting, the delegation proposed declaring a “Decade of Migration” to ensure more effective use of migrants’ contributions to development.
Tasneem, a former teacher of the Department of Political Science at Dhaka University, invited the President to attend an event marking Rmmru’s 30th anniversary as chief guest. The President assured the delegation that he would attend the programme.
She also briefed the President on Rmmru’s three decades of research, field-level activities and achievements.
Tasneem said the organisation has long been conducting research and policy-level work on labour migration, internal displacement, refugees and migrant workers.
The meeting discussed ensuring safe and orderly migration for workers, strengthening accountability of service providers involved in the migration process and promoting the positive contributions of migrants.
The delegation also highlighted Rmmru’s research and policy initiatives on internally displaced people, including the formation of a national caucus on displacement and presenting Bangladesh’s experience and initiatives on the issue at international forums.
Other members of the delegation were Rmmru Adviser and former Dhaka University professor of International Relations CR Abrar, Deputy Executive Director Motasim Billah, Programme Director Marina Sultana and Senior Research Fellow Mahmudol Hasan Rocky.
The President’s Military Secretary and Secretary of the Public Division were also present.
