S O U T H A S I A

Sikder points out in Chapter 1 the efforts of successive governments in Bangladesh to streamline the recruitment process, explore and consolidate labour markets, and to encourage the quicker inflows of remittances and the better utilisation of those resources, yet the Bangladeshi migrant workers remain the most vulnerable sections of the country’s labour market. [...] In fact, many of the studies point to the minimal support provided by the embassies and the need for the governments to enter into bilateral agreements with the receiving countries to better protect the rights of their workers.4 4 Bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families Policy Brief No. [...] The petitioners contended that rather than putting the liability of payment of wages to the workers on the private sector that was also in distress, the governments at the centre and in the states should make the payments from the exchequer. [...] Specifically, the chapter explores the nature and extent of international migration from Bangladesh, the macro-micro economic benefits of migration, the risks and key challenges of international labour migration in Bangladesh and the key responses of government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to protect migrants’ and their families’ rights. [...] The HIES of 2000 and 2005 showed that the households in the Barisal, Rajshahi, and Khulna divisions received most of the domestic remittances and those in the Chittagong, Sylhet, and Dhaka divisions received most of the international remittances.