Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury spoke as the co-chair of the Multi-Stakeholder Round Table-4 of the UN International Migration Review Forum at the UN Headquarters. Photo: Ministry

DHAKA, May 7, 2026 (BSS) – Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury has called for stronger global cooperation on migration governance, stressing enhanced protection of migrant workers, improved data systems and collective efforts to combat discrimination and misinformation.

The minister made the call while co-chairing Multi-stakeholder Round Table-4 at the International Migration Review Forum at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York on Wednesday, according to a message received here today. 

Addressing the forum, Ariful said migrant workers must be treated as rights-holders, not as “disposable labour inputs”, emphasizing the need to place human dignity and rights at the centre of global migration governance.

He underscored the importance of generating accurate and disaggregated migration data, strengthening national statistical systems, enhancing inter-agency coordination and ensuring safeguards for privacy and human rights.

The minister said multi-service information centres, digital platforms and community-based outreach initiatives could play a vital role in providing migrants with timely, reliable and accessible information at every stage of migration.

Highlighting the vulnerability of workers engaged in domestic, agricultural and informal sectors, he called for adopting a rights-based approach to protect them from exploitation, abuse and unsafe working conditions.

Ariful also warned against growing anti-migrant narratives driven by xenophobia and misinformation, calling for stronger accountability against hate speech and enhanced digital literacy to counter false and misleading information.

He stressed the need for deeper bilateral, regional and global cooperation, saying migration should be managed through a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society” approach to ensure dignity, protection and shared prosperity for migrant communities worldwide.