'huge hypocrisy on in dealing with illegal migration in S Asia'
"The people have turned merely into tennis ball of the sending and receiving countries despite the fact that they are contributing to the countries through their remittance and labour," she said at the inaugural session of a three-day international conference on 'Cross-border migration and protection of human rights among the close neighbours in South Asia'.
The countries are even putting contradictory statistics about the number of illegal migrants, she said, adding that the large number of people on the move can be considered assets, not liabilities.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Presenting the keynote paper on 'Protecting the human rights of people on the move', Bangladesh-born Amnesty top official emphasised the need to recognise international law for protection of migrants in the South Asian countries as the national laws are proving inadequate and, in some cases, there is absence of laws in this regard.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) has organised the conference at the UTC auditorium in the city, aiming to work out a regional policy to protect the rights of people on the move, including refugees, migrants and the trafficked.
Law Minister Moudud Ahmed inaugurated the conference as the chief guest. Justice DK Basu, BLAST Vice-Chairman Justice Naimuddin Ahmed and Executive Director Dr Shamsul Bari also spoke.
"Feminisation of migration in South Asian countries is a greater challenge as some governments put restrictions on female migration instead of taking steps to protect their rights abroad," Irene said, adding that the governments don't take measures against the traffickers, rather harass the victims.
Saying that people in South Asian countries migrate mainly due to economical, socio-political and security reasons, she noted that they are being deprived of human rights only for having a different identity and border.
Irene also pointed out the violations of rights in the cases of internal migration, citing some examples of the victims of attacks by LTTE and Maoist rebels.
Non-citizens fall victim to violation of rights in the regional countries, she said, adding that the civil society could play an important role in this regard by helping the victims.
The Amnesty official said that only 30 countries have so far ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention. Pointing out that the term 'refugee' is narrowly defined, she said the government policies exclude them from protection.
The government, lawyers and judges should work together to remove the prejudices and bring down the barriers in order to protect the basic rights of the people on the move, she said.
Law Minister Moudud Ahmed said 4,000 Bangladeshi citizens are languishing in foreign prisons while there are 800 foreigners in Bangladeshi jails. The government and NGOs have provided legal aid to 300 foreign prisoners.
He also added that the government has strengthened the legal aid programme and 22,000 people have benefited from it.
Stressing the need for formulation of a regional strategy to address the issue, Moudud said the government would consider the recommendations of the conference in this regard.
UNHCR Representative Christopher Beng Cha Lee said there are no specifications of refugee rights in the article 31 of the constitution of Bangladesh.
Justice DK Basu said a large number of women and children have been languishing in jails in both Bangladesh and India for years together.
Administrative lapses have caused immense disgrace to people in a culmination to the violation of human rights, he added.