1990 UN Convention on Migrants' Rights: The case for ratification by Bangladesh

1990 UN Convention on Migrants' RightsThe case for ratification by Bangladesh
Tasneem Siddiqui

We, as a nation, are delighted that in fiscal year 2006-2007 the country's foreign exchange earning from our migrant workers remittances will exceed $6 billion. We are also very privileged that our migrants send 33 percent per capita more remittance than those of India, which is the second largest remittance receiving country in the world.

The Global Economic Perspective Report of 2006 by the World Bank found that remittance flow has helped Bangladesh to cut poverty by 6 percent. Eminent economist Prof. Wahiduddin Mahmud stressed that, since the 1980s, it has been the migrants' remittances that have sustained the economy of Bangladesh.

BGMEA and official statistical documents, however, lead us to believe that apparel manufacturing is the highest foreign exchange earning sector in Bangladesh. The fact remains that, once we deduct the cost of raw material import, remittance is the single largest source of foreign exchange income for the Bangladeshi economy. [Read more]