7/16/2020
Covid-19 And Migrant Workers: Planning the return and reintegration of forced returnees | The Daily Star
During the pandemic, forced return of migrants has become a major issue of concern
for intergovernmental bodies and the global civil society engaged in migration issues.
The United Nations Network on Migration (UNNM) has urged states "to suspend forced
returns during the pandemic, in order to protect the health of migrants and
communities, and uphold the human rights of all migrants, regardless of status".
UNNM has called for a halt to arbitrary expulsions and reiterated that their "protection
needs must be individually assessed; and that the rule of law and due process must be
observed". It reminded the states that these obligations under international law "can
never be put on hold and are vital to any successful approach to combatting Covid-19
for the benefit of all".
In separate memos to the governments of six Gulf states, a coalition of civil society
organisations and trade unions, including Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch, urged those states to "refrain from arbitrary deportations of migrant workers…
as a means to contain Covid-19". Closer to home, five leading civil society organisations
including Migrant Forum in Asia have noted that "the repatriation procedures have
been undertaken hastily by countries of both origin and destination, without any
proper redress mechanism… This is a gross violation of labour rights on a large scale".
Expressing concern that some destination countries are exerting pressure on the origin
countries to take back the latter's nationals, the Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants
in a memo implored the UN Secretary General "to appeal to those destination countries
(of the Gulf region) to refrain from pursuing such a policy at this critical juncture".
There are legal, moral and ethical issues with the way the forced returns are being
pursued by the Gulf states. It has also been noted that forced returns can intensify
public health risks for everyone. With overstretched public health systems, almost all
these countries have little capacity to protect the returnees and their communities
through testing, self-isolation and institutional quarantine.
In all likelihood, despite the pleas and supplications, most countries of origin (CoO) of
migrant workers including Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines will
experience large scale return of their migrant workforce once the flights resume.
Therefore, it has become imperative that concerned authorities of the CoO, including
Bangladesh, develop strategies to competently negotiate return with the Countries of
Destination (CoD). A collective initiative by the CoO, perhaps under the aegis of the
Colombo Process, is likely to yield better outcomes than bilateral negotiations. The
origin countries also need to frame the reintegration policies for forced migrants.
Documenting the returnees is one of the first tasks in such a process.
The core element in any repatriation negotiation between the CoO and CoD should be
upholding the rights and dignity of migrant workers. All those concerned with
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repatriation (labour, health, immigration authorities) must guarantee and verify that
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