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.