The Governments of Bangladesh and Switzerland, together with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Sunday launched a new project on sustainable reintegration for returned migrant workers.
This extends a long-standing partnership and commitment to establish a gender responsive and inclusive policy frameworks with strengthened systems to ensure that return migrant workers are sustainably reintegrated and continue to contribute to the country’s growth and development.
The project, signed in December 2023 with the Bangladesh government, aims to support the reintegration of returned migrant workers through institutions and an effective coordination mechanism that can effectively provide employment and business development support services to the workers.
Md Saiful Haque Chowdhury, additional secretary for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, said: “The contribution of the project is going to be immense and instrumental and will significantly help us to develop our capacity, systems of inclusive and sustainable reintegration.”
Md Mazharul Islam, national program officer, ILO delineated overview of technical supports of ILO on labour migration.
Rahnuma Salam Khan, national project manager, ILO presented the overview of Reintegration for Migrant Workers Project.
Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury, State Minster for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, said: “I convey my deepest appreciation towards ILO and Switzerland for creating this umbrella for diverse stakeholders and development partners with the leadership of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment."
“Switzerland has accompanied Bangladesh to design to the labour migration policy architecture in the country over the last 14 years and we are pleased with this long-standing partnership”, said Corinne Henchoz Pignani, deputy head of mission and head of cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland.
Tuomo Poutiainen, country director, ILO, said: “The ILO has been a longstanding partner of Bangladesh, working together to achieve sustainable reintegration for migrant workers. I am very optimistic that this project will strengthen policy and institutional frameworks for improved governance, provide social protection for migrants, create a clear pathway for harvesting the skills and experiences of migrant workers which will significantly boosts the country's economy.”
Tanvir Shakil Joy, MP, chairperson, parliamentarians’ caucus on migration and development said: “As members of parliaments, we are bringing voices of migrants through civil society organizations and grassroots experiences into our national policies. As the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Caucus on Migration and Development, I believe initiatives like this will guide us towards safe migration and sustainable reintegration.”
“We have previously worked on diverse interventions on labour migration including reintegration with technical support from ILO. We already have some learnings from our past and existing experiences which will be considered during the implementation of this project. But the uniqueness of this particular project lies in its importance of sustainability,” said Md Ruhul Amin, secretary, expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment.
Between 2011 and 2022, ILO in partnership with the Government of Switzerland, supported by the Bangladesh government to strengthen policy and institutional frameworks to improve the governance of labour migration of Bangladeshi workers to promote fair and transparent recruitment practices and social protection as well as to ensure protection of their rights in the countries of destination and upon return.
The new project “Reintegration for Migrant Workers Project: Enhancing Policies, Capacities and Systems for Inclusive and Sustainable Reintegration” will also support development of a well-defined, policy-based coordination mechanism migrant re-integration; strengthen the connection of employers’ organizations and workers’ organizations to skills development and employment opportunities for return migrant workers; and strengthen knowledge sharing on sustainable reintegration of migrant workers to inform programming, policy, and practice.
