‘4.37 lakh female migrants working abroad’

It is high time that the migrant women be recognised as workers to ensure their rights and the policies responsible for illegal migration be revised, the researchers recommended.

The report titled 'Documenting the undocumented: Female migrant workers from Bangladesh' was presented at a function in the city on Tuesday.

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Under the leadership of Dr Thérèse Blanchet, Dr Abdur Razzaque of Dhaka University and Hannan Biswas conducted the study in 1,500 villages across the country.

Dr Razzaque said that periodic restrictions imposed by the government on women taking certain types of jobs abroad have pushed their migration underground.

According to the study, 60 percent of female workers are now staying in the Middle East countries while 35 percent in India. Most migrant workers hail from Jessore, Gazipur, Dhaka, Manikganj, Narayanganj, Narail and Munshiganj districts, it said.

The study also revealed that 27,70,796 men are currently working abroad.

Dora Rapold, ambassador of Switzerland, Shahidul Haque, regional representative of IOM, Dr Atiur Rahman, chairman of Unnayan Shamannay, Nasreen Huq, country director of Action Aids, Gene George, mission director of USAID, and Susan Ward, chief of party of Bangladesh Human Rights Advocacy Programme, spoke at the programme.