Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Pitches For International Governance Of Migration In The Hague

UsaNewsOnline.Com Desk, The Hague: Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque underlined the necessity of international governance of migration at a seminar on 19 February 2018 in The Hague. The prestigious International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of the Erasmus University of the Netherlands organized a seminar titled “Improving International Migration Regimes” at its campus in The Hague, where the Foreign Secretary presented keynote speech on “Global Compact for Migration Governance(?): Issues, Zero Draft and Way Forward”. Members of The Hague-based diplomatic corps and international organizations, academia, students, business representatives, local and international media representatives, expatriate community members, among others, attended the seminar. A reception, in honor of Bangladesh Foreign Secretary was hosted by ISS after the talk.

The Foreign Secretary, in his keynote speech,highlighted the complex migratory processes and drivers of migration, contemporary migration dynamics, State’s challenges in governing migration, Global Compact for Migration with reference to the New York Declaration of 2016, zero-draft of Migration Compact, and the ways forward.Mr. Haque termed Bangladesh as a source, transit and destination country of migration and referred to the Bangladesh’s humanitarian response to the arrival of over one million forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh. In response to a question, Secretary Haque narrated the atrocities committed on the Rohingyas and the systematic flushing out of the Rohingya population by the Myanmar authorities through violence, rape, terror, and economic blockade, and he urged the international community to be vocal for the justice to the victims of the atrocity crimes in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. Referring to the current and future trend of migration to Asia and Europe and the necessity for human capital by market forces, the Foreign Secretary suggested for hybrid global migration governance, if not a legally-bound Convention on migration governance, for the mutual benefit of all.

Md. Shahidul Haque also responded to the questions from the floor on a wide range of issues including climate change induced migration, skilled versus general migration, businesses’ need and role for migration, contemporary discourse on international migration governance, etc. Overflowing crowd were so immersed in the talk, the session time was required to extend to accommodate this vibrant Q & A session.

The Acting Rector as well as Professor Des Gasper of ISS also spoke on the occasion. They highlighted Bangladesh’s leadership role in the international migration discussion including conceptualization of the Global Compact for Migration as well as Bangladesh’s active contribution to migration discourse as the Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development for 2016. Press Release.