Ensuring human rights of migrant workers a must: Ariful

Bangladesh’s Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury has said migrant workers must be treated as people with human rights, not merely as labourers.

He made the remarks while co-chairing the Multi-Stakeholder Round Table 4 of the International Migration Review Forum at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, according to a press release.

Chowdhury identified domestic workers, agricultural labourers and workers in the informal sector as the most vulnerable groups.

The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment shared the information in a press statement on Wednesday night.

The minister called for a rights-based approach to protect migrant workers from exploitation and unsafe working conditions.

He also highlighted several key priorities for the international community, including the collection of accurate and comparable migration data, strengthening national statistical systems, improving inter-agency coordination, and ensuring the protection of privacy and human rights.

Chowdhury stressed that migrants should have access to timely and reliable information at every stage of migration through one-stop service centres, digital platforms and community-based initiatives.

Warning against rising xenophobia and misinformation-driven anti-migration campaigns, he said such challenges must be addressed through accountability, digital literacy and inclusive public discussion, rather than silence or indifference.

Calling for stronger bilateral and global cooperation, the minister said migration governance is too complex for any single government or institution to handle alone.

He said the only effective way forward is a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society” approach that places dignity, protection and the wellbeing of migrants at its centre.