Virtual concert for International Migrants Day tomorrow

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Bangladesh will host a virtual "Concert for Migrants" to mark International Migrants Day tomorrow and to help raise awareness about safe migration.

The concert organised for the second year aims to connect with migrants and their communities and promote safe migration through information and entertainment, said a press release today. 

The "Concert for Migrants" is organised in collaboration with Jamuna Television and will be streamed live on IOM Bangladesh's Facebook page and telecast on Jamuna Television from 11:00 PM (23:00 onwards), Bangladesh time (GMT+6).

The virtual concert will enable over 7.4 million Bangladeshi migrants working abroad to connect and watch the programme from around the world.

Popular artists including Kumar Bishwajit, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Shironamhin, Luipa, Asif Akbar, Kuddus Boyati, Nandita, Pritom Ahmed, and Masha Islam are expected to perform at the concert tomorrow, said the release.

Ranked sixth highest in the world, Bangladesh's migrant workers play a critical role in the country's development. Notably, Bangladesh currently receives the eighth highest remittances in the world, and significantly since 1976, migrants have sent back over US $249 billion in remittances.

IOM Bangladesh's Officer in Charge Fathima Nusrath Ghazzali said, "On this International Migrants Day, we take the opportunity to honour Bangladeshi migrants' contributions at home and abroad through the concert".

The concert will inform and entertain listeners on the value of safe, orderly and regular migration. "I invite everyone to watch the concert, which features some of Bangladesh's most prominent musicians," she added.

The concert is initiated under the European Union-funded project "Bangladesh: Sustainable Reintegration and Improved Migration Governance (Prottasha)" that supports the government to achieve SDG Goal 10.7 to facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed policies, the release also said.