Dr. Muhammad Mahtab Hossain Mazed

Today, Wednesday 18 December is International Migrants Day 2023. In Bangladesh, the theme of the day has been set as "Migrants' rights, our commitment, Bangladesh without discrimination, all of us" International Migrants Day is celebrated every year on December 18 in all member countries of the United Nations

The United Nations General Assembly decided on December 4, 2000 to celebrate the day worldwide. Basically, the origin of this day is around the issues related to the interests of a large number of immigrants and the large-scale immigration scattered in different parts of the world.

We give different names to people who move from one country to another. We often hear these names: diaspora, immigrant, refugee or asylum seeker. International migration is when people cross the borders of their countries and stay for a minimum period of time in the destination country. happens because Many leave their home countries to seek economic opportunities in other countries. Many move to stay with family members who have immigrated. Migration also occurs due to the political situation in their country. Education is another reason for international migration as students go abroad to studyAlthough there are several possible systems for classifying international migrants, one system organizes them into nine groups: temporary labor migrants; irregular immigrants, illegal, or undocumented immigrants; highly skilled and business migrants; refugees; asylum seeker; forced migrants; Family membersreturn migrants; and long-term low-skilled migrants.These migrants can be divided into two large groups, permanent and temporary. Permanent migrants come to a new country with the intention of establishing their permanent residence and possibly acquiring citizenship of that country. Temporary migrants come only for a limited period of time. They come for a specific program of study, their work contract or specific work. Both types of immigrants have an important impact on the economy and society of the foreign and home countriesSimilarly, the countries that receive these immigrants are often divided into four categories: countries of traditional settlement, European countries that encouraged labor migration after World War II, European countries that receive a significant portion of immigrant populations from their former colonies, and countries thatEarlier many people used to go to other countries but recently immigrants come to that country.These countries are grouped in two ways. Namely, migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries with governance problems. But classifying in this way is artificial and it obscures things from perspective. For example, when a migrant-sending country is also a migrant-receiving countryAll things considered, countries like the UAE have a wide multicultural population. About 88% of the total population of the UAE are expatriates. Not only the UAE, 74% of the population in Qatar, 60% in Kuwait, and 55% in Bahrain have immigrated from different countries (eg, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan). The population has increased by 500% from 1.3 million in 1990 to 4.8 million in 2013.

> About the origin of the International Migrants Day: The origin of this day is around the issues related to the interests of a large number of immigrants and the widespread migration in different parts of the world. Early on, they designated December 18 as the International Day of Solidarity around Migrants. Note that on December 18, 1990, the United Nations held an international conference to protect the rights of migrant workers and their families. The Conference adopted Resolution 45/158 of the International Convention for the Protection of the Interests of Migrants to Adequate Security and the Fair Rights of Their Families. In this context, many organizations of the world including Migrant Rights International, International Convention on Migrants Rights campaigned globally to protect the interests of migrants. Since 1997, Filipino and other Asian immigrant organizations started celebrating the day. Finally, in the latter half of 1999, a massive online campaign forced the United Nations spokesperson to declare December 18 as International Migrants' Day. On December 4, 2000, the United Nations General Assembly decided to celebrate December 18 as International Migrants Day worldwide. The economic development of the country is closely related with immigrants and foreign employment. Immigrant siblings make important contributions to our national economy.

According to the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment, about 9 million Bangladeshi citizens are working in various professions in 160 countries of the world. The largest sector of Bangladesh's net foreign exchange earnings is international migration. Remittances sent by international migrants were equivalent to 3.3% of GDP in 2023. In the same year, remittances were 4.4 times foreign aid and 7 times foreign investment. The lion's share of the country's foreign reserves comes from remittances. The working population of Bangladesh is 73 million. In 2023, 1.3 million Bangladeshis will re-enter the labor market. But in the same year, 1.3 million women and men were employed through international labor migration.

Over the past decade and a half, the lack of responsibility and accountability and corruption of policymakers, high-level bureaucrats and recruiting agencies have progressively reduced the gains of migrant families from immigration. The impact is also being observed on the remittance flow in the legal process. Since 2021, the upward momentum of remittances has slowed down. In order to strengthen the economy of Bangladesh, steps must be taken to identify and eliminate the irregularities in the immigration and remittance sectors. From 1976 to September, 2024, 16,774,045 Bangladeshi men and women went abroad for work. Until 2003, various restrictions were imposed on women workers going abroad for work. Women's participation in international labor migration increased after the government lifted the ban in 2003. Women accounted for 13% of total migrants in 2023. Although it is said that Bangladeshis are migrating to different countries of the world, in fact, more than 90 percent of migration occurs in 6-7 countries every year. Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore – these countries have been the main source of immigration for the past few years. There are many challenges in labor migration from Bangladesh. High immigration costs, syndicate violence, opaque recruitment process, inability to exit the low-skilled and unskilled labor market etc. Inextricably linked to all this is the stability of remittance flows. Since 2000, Bangladesh has experienced a massive increase in remittances. Annual growth in remittances ranged from 12 to 37 percent from 2000 to 2009. From 2011 to 2020, remittance growth was 10 to 18 percent in different years. Remittances continued to grow even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the global financial crisis of 2009, and the Southeast Asian financial crisis of 2007-08. Since 2021, remittances have seen negative growth or marginal growth. It may seem that remittances have also decreased as immigration has decreased. That is not the case. A comparative account of remittances and migration from September 2004-2024 shows that the growth of migration was good during these years in 2022-2023. But the growth of remittances continues to decline. It is assumed that migrants start sending regular remittances one year after moving abroad. Even after adding a one-year hiatus, remittance growth remains subdued. Moreover, remittances do not depend only on the number of people in a year. Growth in remittances also depends on the total stock of migrants in different countries. In that case, the decrease in remittances should also be taken into account, the stock of Bangladeshi immigrants who are in low income jobs or not getting regular salary etc. The previous government and Bangladesh Bank officials at the time identified various global factors as the reason behind the slowdown in remittances. They have magnified the Russia-Ukraine war, the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation in destination countries, the decline in real incomes of migrants due to rising global commodity prices, etc. They did not look at the economic crisis caused by the political activities of the government inside the country. According to Ramru's research, in 2021, 2022 and 2023, migrant workers continue to reduce remittances through legal channels. Especially when the news is published in various newspapers that the leaders of the government party are taking over various banks and taking loans from those banks and smuggling the money abroad and bankrupting the banks, then the migrant and his family members lose confidence in the banks. Some of the migrants returned to the country and withdrew money from the bank. Wide disparities in exchange rates between curb markets, informal markets and formal markets also discourage migrants from remittances through legal channels.

In addition to strict implementation of anti-trafficking laws in various parts of the world including Bangladesh, everyone in the world must work together to bring down the cost of migration to a bearable level. In order to create job opportunities for immigrants who are interested in going abroad, it is essential to ensure the rights of immigrants by finding new labor markets, preventing fraud in immigration, reducing immigration costs, training, and facilitating loans. Also, development in foreign employment management and public awareness about safe migration process, best use of foreign exchange earned through honesty and dedication of Bangladeshi migrants working abroad can brighten the image of Bangladesh in the outside world. Therefore, everyone should come forward to ensure the overall welfare of migrant men and women and their family members.

_ Reasons for migration

★ Repulsion

* Poor quality health care * Inadequate jobs
* Limited opportunities * Underdeveloped standard of living * Political fear * Fear of persecution and mistreatment
* Religious discrimination * Loss of financial resources
* Natural disasters * Harassment

★ Attraction

* Job opportunities * Improved standard of living * Enjoyment
* Education * Good health care protection * Family relations * Low crime rate

> Differences between migrants, refugees and asylum seekers

* Immigrants:

Immigrants are called immigrants when they migrate to a country for the purpose of permanent or temporary residence for education, business, employment, labor, research, etc. People can immigrate for various reasons. People who leave the country in search of work or a better life are called economic migrants.

Many people immigrate for educational purposes or for family reasons. People also choose to migrate to escape unfavorable conditions in their home countries or to ensure a better future for their family members.

* Refugees:

If someone flees a country to escape armed conflict or persecution and is recognized as offering international protection because his life is in danger if he returns, he may be called a refugee. That is, the people who have left their land or are temporarily located in another country in search of asylum due to political, social, ethnic security reasons are called refugees. According to the Refugee Charter of 1951, they have to be given security. The basic principle of that charter is that refugees cannot be expelled or forced to return to situations where their life and liberty would be threatened. Once someone is recognized as a refugee, they must be given social housing and welfare benefits, and help with work arrangements and integration into society.

* Asylum seekers :-

Authorities have an international obligation to consider asylum seekers' claims and not immediately return them to their home countries. According to the Refugee Charter, a person who is a refugee must be given the opportunity to apply for asylum and must be guaranteed adequate safety and dignity during the application process.

* expatriate
When someone comes to live permanently in a foreign country, they are usually called expatriates.

This type of people usually leave their own country and migrate to another country of their own free will.

In addition to seeking employment or a better life, many people decide to live abroad permanently for family or personal reasons.

Those who migrate permanently abroad voluntarily and spontaneously, not under force or against their will, are called expatriates.
Creating monitoring and accountability at the national level

At one time a council was formed at the highest level and another council with various stakeholders to review the immigration sector at the state level. Neither of these two have been operational for several years. It is known that such online meetings have been initiated during the Corona period, but no visible action is known according to those meetings.

However, many meetings and workshops are held with various stakeholders, both public and private. From there, through mutual cooperation and review, some policy directions are available. But in particular there is no platform for monitoring and creating accountability for migrant rights and state responsibility. Moreover, there was no effective representation of immigrants in the two mentioned councils. Based on experience, a realistic platform and mechanism for ensuring accountability needs to be determined.

Inter-ministerial coordination

Although the Ministry of Expatriation and Employment is the main ministry in the immigration sector, the ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Civil Movement and Tourism, Public Administration, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Health, Women and Children, Social Welfare, Youth and Sports, Education, Labor are also involved in the immigration process.

The lack of coordination of these ministries and their related departments with the argument of their own scope of work has been going on for a long time. Despite various recommendations and measures, this lack of coordination is an obstacle to a smooth migration process. Unscrupulous circles at different levels benefit from this lack of coordination or poor coordination and the migrants suffer. This disharmony extends from the village to the diaspora. Improvement in this combination is not possible without strict instructions and monitoring from the highest level of the state.

Immigrant friendly training

Compared to the progress made in the training infrastructure in the immigration sector over the years, the progress and modernization of immigration training has been almost non-existent. First, there is a need for training methods, materials and instructor training suitable for foreign countries prepared at different times. In that case, cooperation and coordination of public-private-commercial training systems will be needed. The success of some experimental initiatives needs to be institutionalized.

Secondly, we need to coordinate technical and technological education for use abroad with our education system. And thirdly, how much the trained men and women are able to use their acquired skills in the diaspora should be regularly reviewed.

Capacity building of government officials

Not only the skills development of migrant workers and trainers, but also the immigration sector requires specialized training on immigration for all officials at home and abroad. This training could be in addition to the basic training of bureaucrats and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with specialized training on immigration, human trafficking and immigration diplomacy.

Finally, I would like to say that since ancient times, people have been migrating from one country to another for various reasons including the search for livelihood, socio-economic, climate change. Therefore, the importance of migration in the development of human civilization is immense. Moreover, the immigrant population has a positive role in making the world more diverse and livable by creating bonds of brotherhood among people of different religions and races in different regions of the world. But migration is facing tough challenges today due to war and geopolitical reasons. To protect the rights and interests of migrants, it is very important to properly comply with the provisions laid down in various national and international laws, conventions and charters. The sincerity of all concerned is imperative to ensure harassment-free immigration.

The writer is a, organizer, columnist and researcher Founder and Chairman, jatia rogi kallyan Society Chamber :-Alankar Shopping Complex Chittagong