Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation [BAFLF] demands social protection and to respect migrant workers’ rights.
18, December,2021
Today Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation
[BAFLF] organized a rally and discussion meeting to mark International Migrant
workers Day in Gazipur. In the discussion meeting BAFLF general secretary Abdul
Mazid said inequality is increasing day by day. There is a lot of wage
discrimination between workers and officials. The success in agriculture in our
country is due to hard work of agricultural workers. Without the efforts and
involvement of agricultural farm workers only scientist cannot complete
research. Whenever our federation calls
on protest you all will participate. We have to overcome many challenges ahead.
We have to achieve our demands through movement.
BAFLF central committee member Azgar Ali said we have
seen Rohingyas from neighboring country Myanmar took shelter in our country.
Our government has provided shelter to them. A small river to come to
Bangladesh from Myanmar. It can be easily crossed. They have crossed by small
boats. Though we have a lot of problems here, our government is supporting
Rohingyas and also working to help Rohingyas to return to their homeland with
dignity. Our government has shown a lot of humanity towards the Rohingyas. We
have a lot of problems here in our small country. It is difficult to provide
permanent shelter to 12 to 15 lakh Rohingyas.
BAFLF assistant general secretary MD. Mamun said those
of us who live in the city work in various factories, government institutions and
state-owned farms are paid a fixed wage. But 80% of the people live in rural
areas and most of them depend on agriculture for their livelihood. At present,
due to climate change, it has become difficult to work in agriculture. Because
agriculture is totally dependent on weather. As a result of global warming, sea
levels are rising and the number of climate induced migrants is increasing.
Farmers and agriculture workers are the most affected by climate change. Those
responsible for climate change must take responsibility for those affected. So,
we demand social protection and cash support for farmers and the people working
in rural areas lost land, house and livelihood being affected by climate
change.
There are millions of people in our country are also
working as migrant workers in different countries of the world. Their
remittances are keeping our country's economy afloat. They must be given
dignity. In many destinations country migrant workers’ rights are violated. We
will work to protect the rights of migrant workers.
Golam Sorowor, Finance Secratery of BAFLF said many
Bangladeshi workers try to reach Europe by boat at different times. Some people
may reach out. But most people drown in different seas. Going abroad with so
much trouble sends money for us, for the state, for the family. But they do not
get the same benefits as the citizens of the country in which they live. We
think the rights of migrant workers are human rights. Bangladesh is bordered by
India. There are many incidents of border killing in Bangladesh-India border.
Most of them are Bangladeshi. We know about Felani, she was hanging on the
border for 4 hours after his death. Border killings must be stopped. This issue
should be resolved.
