Minister meets EU Ambassador on safe migration and labour law reform

At a meeting held at the Minister's office at the Ministry on Tuesday (29 September), the Minister said the government is committed to sending workers legally and has taken a strict stance against illegal migration. To raise public awareness on this issue, a roundtable meeting will be organized soon with individuals, organizations, and journalists related to migration.

The Minister said that the licenses of 49 recruiting agencies involved in various crimes and irregularities, including illegal migration, have been cancelled. Offices of several agencies have been sealed, and instructions have been given to conduct regular mobile courts against law violators.

EU Ambassador Michael Miller said that a large portion of Bangladesh's remittances comes from the European Union. He expressed interest in working on various initiatives, including the ‘Talent Partnership’, to increase opportunities for workers from Bangladesh to enter Europe legally.

At the meeting, discussions were held on the rehabilitation of returnee workers, bringing in the European Training Foundation, stopping the tendency to go abroad at high cost, and cooperation in migration management. Alongside, the EU Ambassador emphasized freedom of trade unions in labour law, consistency between EPZ and general labour laws, elimination of child labour, and regular factory inspections.

At the meeting, ministry officials presented information on prescribed standards and inspection activities for regulating recruiting agencies. Discussions were also held on legal migration activities with Italy and the progress of the ‘RAISE’ project, implemented with World Bank funding, for the rehabilitation of returnee workers.