ActionAid BD hosts meeting on migrant workers’ rights in South Asia

ActionAid Bangladesh recently hosted a high-level meeting on Migrant Workers' Rights in South Asia in the Context of the "UN Legally Binding Instrument (LBI) on Transnational Corporations and Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights", says a press release.

Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh, moderated the meeting and emphasised the need to strategize South Asia's engagement in the LBI process, with a particular focus on addressing migrant workers' rights issues. Farah Kabir echoed the sentiments of the speakers, highlighting the prevalence of injustice faced by migrants.

The Chief Guest of the session was the Saber Hossain Chowdhury, MP, Special Envoy to the Honorable Prime Minister for Climate Change, and Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on MoEFCC.

MP Tanvir Shakil Joy, Chair of Bangladesh Climate Parliament, Barrister Shamim Hayder Patwary MP, Chairperson, Bangladesh Parliamentarians' Caucus on Migration and Development and Sobita Gautam, MP, Member of Climate Parliament Nepal, Member of Parliament from India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka also graced the occasion with their presence.

Representatives from ILO, IOM, BRAC, DU, the Embassy of Switzerland, and journalists were also present at the meeting.

Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, Advocate at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Human Rights Defender, presented on the Contextualisation of LBI and Recognition of Migrant Workers Rights.

He discussed the establishment of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises in 2014, aimed at creating a binding international instrument for regulating these entities' human rights impacts.

He highlighted the role of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011) as the global standard for addressing human rights risks in business.

Negotiations began in 2015, with the 8th Session in 2022 reviewing the 3rd revised draft of the international instrument.

Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua also emphasized ActionAid Bangladesh's contributions to these negotiations, including participation in consultations organized by IGWG.

Barua further shed light on the persisting scopes and gray areas in the 4th revised draft of LBI, which consists of 24 articles. Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua urged the formation of a Parliamentary Caucus for the protection of migrant workers' human rights, preparation of a position paper on migrant workers' human rights violations, compelling TNCs to establish internal dispute settlement mechanisms, creating a prompt redressal mechanism for victim complaints, submission of Country-Specific Reports in the Universal Periodic Review on migrant workers' human rights violations (UPR), ensuring data transparency in sending and receiving states, and establishing a South Asia Regional network to address migrant workers' rights issues in the LBI process.