Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants: Advocating for Labour Mobility and Security

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi workers board flights to the Gulf, Malaysia, and beyond, carrying the hopes of entire families on their shoulders. Their earnings keep Bangladesh’s economy afloat, yet the workers themselves often face wage theft, unsafe workplaces, denial of healthcare, and in the worst cases, death far from home. Into this gap stepped a coalition of organisations determined to give these workers a collective voice. The Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants (BCSM) is one of South Asia’s most instructive examples of how organised civil society can hold both governments and recruiters accountable for the people who sustain a national economy.

What is the Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants?
Who are its members?
Why migrant workers need civil society support
High migration costs and exploitation
Lack of healthcare, insurance, and job security
How BCSM advocates for change
Engaging government and lawmakers
Collaborating with international bodies
Issuing public statements and demanding accountability
A case that demanded justice: the death in Saudi Arabia
Pushing for stronger social protection
The mandatory insurance scheme
The gaps that remain
Why BCSM matters for understanding civil society in South Asia

What is the Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants?

BCSM is a platform that brings together migrant rights groups, research bodies, and development organisations under a single banner to advocate for the rights and safety of Bangladeshi migrant workers. Rather than a single NGO, it functions as an alliance. Reporting in The Daily Star describes it as an alliance of 23 migrant rights groups, pooling the expertise and reach of its members to speak with greater weight than any one organisation could on its own.

The platform grew out of a specific moment. Bangladesh hosted the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in 2016, and civil society organisations first came together as the Bangladesh Civil Society Coordination Committee (BCSCC) to prepare for it. After the forum, members recognised that migration challenges were too persistent to address only around international events. In a meeting held in January 2017, the committee was restructured into BCSM to engage with these issues in a more sustained way. Its secretariat is hosted by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), a respected migration research body.

Who are its members?

The strength of BCSM lies in the diversity of its membership. Organisations involved over the years include WARBE Development Foundation, BRAC, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Manusher Jonno Foundation, BOMSA, Karmojibi Nari, the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), and RMMRU, among others. This mix matters. Some members specialise in legal aid, others in field-level support to returnee workers, and still others in research and policy analysis. Together they cover almost every stage of the migration journey, from pre-departure to reintegration.

Why migrant workers need civil society support

To understand why a platform like BCSM exists, it helps to look at the scale and the risks of Bangladeshi labour migration. Bangladesh ranks among the world’s largest senders of migrant workers and largest recipients of remittances. According to research published on the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bangladeshi migrants have sent home roughly USD 235 billion in remittances since 1976. This money is not a luxury. UNDP notes that around 60 percent of migrant households depend on remittances to meet daily needs.

Despite contributing so much, workers themselves often migrate at enormous personal cost and risk. The problems begin before departure and follow them home.

High migration costs and exploitation

One of the most damaging issues is the cost of going abroad in the first place. Workers frequently pay middlemen, known locally as dalals, far more than the actual cost of migration. A public hearing organised by RMMRU documented testimonies where Bangladeshi workers paid thousands of dollars for jobs that paid little, while workers from India or Sri Lanka often paid almost nothing for comparable positions. Many sell land or take on heavy debt to fund their journey, only to discover that the promised job does not exist or pays far less than agreed.

Lack of healthcare, insurance, and job security

Once abroad, many workers face poor living conditions, denial of medical care, and dismissal without compensation. Analysis in The Business Standard points out that employers often discriminate against Bangladeshi workers in providing essential services like food, healthcare, shelter, and security. Those who fall ill are sometimes deported rather than treated. Female domestic workers are especially vulnerable, with documented cases of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. The absence of legally enforceable contracts means workers have little recourse when wages are stolen or jobs vanish.

How BCSM advocates for change

BCSM does not deliver services to individual workers the way a charity might. Instead, it works to change the systems and policies that fail them. Its approach combines research, dialogue, public statements, and engagement with people in power.

Engaging government and lawmakers

A core part of BCSM’s work is bringing civil society into direct conversation with policymakers. The platform has organised dialogues with the Parliamentarians’ Caucus on Migration and Development, where it presented its policy concerns directly to elected representatives. At one such dialogue, BCSM raised issues such as the high cost of migration and the vulnerability of female workers in Saudi Arabia. Senior officials from the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment have attended BCSM events and acknowledged the platform’s role in shaping migrant-friendly initiatives.

This kind of access is significant. By positioning itself as a credible, research-backed voice, BCSM is able to influence the conversation rather than shout from the sidelines.

Collaborating with international bodies

BCSM’s advocacy extends beyond national borders. The platform aligns its work with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), two international frameworks that set standards for protecting migrants. It has partnered with United Nations agencies on joint advocacy. The UN Network on Migration records that BCSM, alongside WARBE Development Foundation, helped organise a preparatory consultation connected to the Global Forum process. Working with bodies like the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) gives BCSM’s domestic demands international backing.

Issuing public statements and demanding accountability

When migrants are in danger, BCSM speaks up publicly. When several hundred Bangladeshis were stranded near the Croatia-Bosnia border during the pandemic, BCSM issued a statement urging the Bosnian government to provide them food, shelter, and emergency medical services. The platform has also publicly criticised syndicated recruiting agencies for sending workers to Malaysia for jobs that did not exist, leaving thousands waiting months for visas after paying heavy fees. These statements put pressure on both foreign governments and the domestic recruitment industry.

A case that demanded justice: the death in Saudi Arabia

Some of BCSM’s most forceful interventions come in response to individual tragedies that expose deeper systemic failures. One such case involved the death of a young Bangladeshi female domestic worker in Saudi Arabia.

According to a press statement shared through Migrant Forum in Asia, BCSM called on the government to hold accountable the recruitment agency and authorities that unlawfully sent the young worker abroad, where she was tortured before being killed. The platform demanded a fair and prompt investigation against those responsible and justice for the worker’s family. Reporting in the Dhaka Tribune indicates BCSM pressed for the body to be exhumed for an autopsy so that the truth could be established.

This case illustrates how BCSM operates. It transformed a single death into a public demand for accountability, drawing attention to the unlawful sending of vulnerable workers and the lack of protection for women in domestic work. By insisting on a proper investigation, the platform pushed back against the tendency to treat such deaths as private misfortunes rather than failures of the system.

Beyond responding to crises, BCSM has worked to build lasting protections into law and policy. Sustained advocacy by civil society organisations has contributed to real, if incomplete, gains.

The mandatory insurance scheme

One concrete outcome is the government’s introduction of compulsory insurance for outgoing workers. The Daily Star reported that in 2019 the government brought migrant workers under two compulsory insurance schemes, with coverage available for workers aged between 18 and 58. The Wage Earners’ Welfare Board signed an agreement with the state-owned Jiban Bima Corporation to deliver the coverage, which provides benefits in cases of death or disability. The benefit amounts have since been revised upward, reflecting continued pressure to improve protection.

The gaps that remain

Civil society advocates are careful to note that these measures, while welcome, do not solve the problem. Academic research published in a peer-reviewed journal observes that Bangladesh’s National Social Protection Strategy contains no specific provision for migrant workers, and that the country struggled to deliver emergency support to migrants hit hardest by the pandemic. The same research notes that it was only after sustained advocacy by civil society organisations that the government allocated funds from the Wage Earners’ Welfare Fund for affected migrants. This is precisely the role BCSM plays: identifying where protection falls short and pressing for it to be filled.

Why BCSM matters for understanding civil society in South Asia

BCSM is a useful case study because it shows civil society performing several functions at once. It acts as a watchdog, scrutinising recruiting agencies and government performance. It acts as a bridge, connecting grassroots workers to lawmakers and international institutions. And it acts as an advocate, turning individual suffering into policy demands.

This reflects a broader pattern across South Asia, where states alone often cannot manage the complex realities of large-scale labour migration. Civil society fills the space between the migrant and the state, ensuring that the people who generate remittances are not forgotten in the policymaking that surrounds those remittances. BCSM demonstrates that when organisations coordinate rather than compete, they can move from charity to genuine structural change.

The platform’s continued operation, including regular general meetings to elect its leadership, shows an effort to remain accountable and durable rather than dependent on any single moment or personality. For students of political science, it offers a living example of how organised civil society can shape governance from outside the formal structures of the state.

What do you think? Should the responsibility for protecting migrant workers rest mainly with sending countries like Bangladesh, or do destination countries that benefit from migrant labour bear an equal duty? And can a civil society alliance ever fully substitute for strong government action, or does its very existence reveal where the state has fallen short?

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Table of Contents

What is the Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants? 🔗

Who are its members? 🔗

Why migrant workers need civil society support 🔗

High migration costs and exploitation 🔗

Lack of healthcare, insurance, and job security 🔗

How BCSM advocates for change 🔗

Engaging government and lawmakers 🔗

Collaborating with international bodies 🔗

Issuing public statements and demanding accountability 🔗

A case that demanded justice: the death in Saudi Arabia 🔗

Pushing for stronger social protection 🔗

The mandatory insurance scheme 🔗

The gaps that remain 🔗

Why BCSM matters for understanding civil society in South Asia 🔗