Ensure migrant workers’ franchise: RMMRU
Migrant workers should have the right to exercise their franchise in the national election, rights activists told the media on Sunday.
It will be impossible for Bangladesh to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 without the remittance of migrant workers, they said. The political parties did not address the voting rights of migrant workers in the manifestos.
The comments were made at a press conference on 'Pattern and Trends of Labour Migration 2018: Achievement and Challenge' at Jatiya Press Club. A number of findings were unveiled by senior lawyer Dr Shahdeen Malik and Dhaka University Professor Dr Tasneem Arefa Siddiqui, reports UNB.
The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) organised the programme with the support of Promoting Knowledge for Accountable System, British Council and UKaid.
Malik pointed out that even though a large number of Bangladeshis living abroad were sending back huge sum of money, they did not have voting rights.
"It is possible to include many of the migrant workers, if not all, in the voting system through a digital process," he noted. "An initiative should be taken in this regard."
As many as 1,20,79,528 Bangladeshi workers went abroad between 1976 and 2018, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training. RUMMRU said 21 percent of the workers returned home during this period.
"We are demanding to ensure their voting rights so that they can cast votes online. They do not have to come home to exercise their franchise," said Tasneem. "The government and Election Commission should take initiative in this regard."
