Foreign secretary re-elected CMW member

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque was reelected as a member of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) yesterday for a four-year term (2018-2021).

He secured the highest number of votes (46 out of 51), a Foreign Office press release said today, adding this victory reflects international community`s confidence in the robust foreign policy that Bangladesh pursues.

The Foreign Secretary will serve as an independent expert in the Committee.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina first proposed in the United Nations that the world needs a Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in order to curb the illicit trafficking of migrants. Her proposal was adopted in the UNGA in 2016 and now the UN is negotiating on this global compact.

Bangladesh took the lead to form a "Group of Friends of Migration" at the UN in New York and Geneva" and also as one of the active members leading the negotiation at the United Nations.

This is for the second time Bangladesh becomes a member of CMW. This would add a new dimension to Bangladesh`s efforts to protect and promote the rights of the migrant workers around the world including the 9 million migrant workers and their family members of Bangladesh, the release said.

This is a clear recognition of Bangladesh for its leading role on the issue of migration in the work of United Nations and beyond.

Fifty-one state parties to the International Convention of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW) elected seven new experts for CMW yesterday in New York for four years from January 2018.

CMW is a 14-member treaty body that monitors the ICRMW State Parties` adherence to this only human rights instrument for migrant workers, and also promotes the treaty for ratification by non-state parties. Bangladesh ratified the Treaty on 24 August 2011.

Candidates from Albania, Sri Lanka, Columbia, Azerbaijan, Senegal, Niger have been elected along with the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh.

Shahidul Haque, known as an international expert on migration, had a successful career with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and served as Director, International Cooperation and Partnership at the IOM Headquarters.

He was the Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) for the year 2016 and promoted the idea of Global Compact.

Source: BSS