Rights activists on Thursday urged the government to raise the issue of free movement of labour in the upcoming WTO ministerial meeting to be held in Bali, Indonesia from December 3 to 6.
The call came from a rally held in front of the Jatiay Press Club in Dhaka, reports UNB.
The rights activists said duty-free and quota free (DFQF) access along with relaxation in rules of origin might be harmful for the least developed countries (LDCs), otherwise the countries’ position to oppose TISA (Trade in Service Agreement) and TICFA (Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement) will be weakened.
The rally was moderated by Mostafa Kamal Akanda of EquityBD in presence of Dr Mejbah Uddin of Jatiya Sramik Federation, Zayed Iqbal Khan of Krishok Federation and Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of EquityBD.
Mamun Khan of Agriculture Labour Farm Federation said WTO must tell the developed countries to withdraw agricultural subsidies so that a level playing field is created for the developing nations.
Food is considered as basic rights and therefore it must be out of the commercialisation purview, said Moin Howlader of Krishok Federation.
Subol Sarkar of Bhumihin Samity mentioned: “WTO serves the interest of multinational companies of developed countries who force the developing nations to open the market for those companies.”
EquityBD’s Sayed Aminul Haque said Bangladeshi products like garments and medicine are already in competition globally and therefore demanding DFQF access might raise counterproductive argument from the developed nations to give their MNCs unconditional access in the service sectors of developing countries.
Bangladesh has strength in its huge human resources of natural labour, but there will be more displacement of such human resource due to the climate change impact, he added.
The fifteen rights organisations, which jointly organised the rally were Arpan, OK Society, EquityBD, MFTD, SDO, Kishani Shova, CDP, Jatiya Sramik Jote, Bangladesh Krishak Federation, Bangladesh Bhumihin Samity, BFLF, VOICE, Labor Resource Centre, Surakkha and Agragati Foundation.