Rayhan Kabir joins Brac’s migration programme

Brac has appointed Rayhan Kabir, a young Bangladeshi who was arrested and imprisoned in Malaysia last year, as an Information Service Centre Officer in its migration programme.

Shariful Hasan, head of migration programme, Brac, handed over the appointment letter to Rayhan on Thursday afternoon, reads a press release.

He said the way Rayhan fought to protect the rights of expatriates would impress anyone. Brac has an information and service centre opposite the airport to provide emergency services to expatriates. In the last two years, we have provided various services to 17,000 people from there. 

Rayhan will work with another expatriate activist Al Amin Nayan, who returned from Malaysia a decade ago and is leading the centre.

Rayhan was arrested and interrogated by the Malaysian authorities after he spoke to the media against the country's brutal treatment of migrants. He was deported back to Bangladesh and blacklisted from entering Malaysia again. After returning to Bangladesh he expressed his intention to work to protect the rights of expatriates. 

Regarding his appointment in Brac, Rayhan said, "Expatriates are remittance fighters. They have contributed a lot to the economy of Bangladesh. Still, they often fall into misery. I have wanted to do something for them for a long time. This is what I did in Malaysia. I will continue that."

On 3 July last year, an investigative documentary by Al Jazeera titled "Locked up in Malaysian Lockdown-101 East' was published on its official YouTube channel. It documented mistreatments of migrant workers in Malaysia by the government during the lockdown. 

Rayhan was featured in that documentary. He spoke on behalf of the Bangladeshis in that report. Angered by statements, the Malaysian Police issued a wanted notice against him. He was arrested on 24 July and interrogated by police several times. But, in the face of demands from various international organisations, Malaysia sent him back to Bangladesh on 22 August as innocent.