Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants (BCSM) organised a retreat programme for its respective organisational and individual members in collaboration with the BRAC migration Programme. The day-long retreat was held at the BRAC CDM Rajendrapur on December 15, 2022. It aimed to strengthen the connection between the members, identify the scopes of collaboration in future, sharing the members’ activities with the network and preparatory discussion on the upcoming international migration day 2022.
The day was enjoyed by the members through informal and formal discussions where they shared their journey in the migration sector from the inception of their organisation as well as the challenges they have overcome and the achievements they have achieved over the years. A brief session on the cultural performances have been organised and conducted as a part of the retreat session beside a session on socialising and discussion on the upcoming international migrants’ day. The members also discussed and planned about a number of activities that can be done in the future under the BCSM banner.
In the preparatory discussion session for International Migrants Day (IMD), 2022; the members agreed that BCSM should plan and celebrate the International Migration day with a concrete plan involving the migrant workers and their family members. The respected members held a discussion on organising a human chain for the upcoming IMD. The secretariat took responsibility to develop a budget. Co-chair of BCSM has requested the members to contribute to the plan technically and financially in organising the human chain. Every member of BCSM spontaneously agreed to make this event a success. However, as the plan was developed just before the International Migrant Day, the members also upheld the challenges and agreed to take necessary steps in future to organise events celebrating the International Migrants Day collectively under the BCSM banner.
The Co-Chair, treasurer and secretariat also addressed the administrative issues of the network and presented the previous achievements of the network for the newly joined members. In this discussion, the Co-Chair urged the members to proactively bring issues regarding the migration sector to the platform on which the network can work and raise a collective voice. With a speech from the organisers and the Co-Chair, the event concluded with a promise to protect the rights of the migrant workers and their family members.
