Who We Are

OKUP is a community based migrant workers’ organization in Bangladesh. Believing in that the unity of migrant workers enhances their empowerment and contributes to the protection of their rights and dignity, OKUP came up as a platform of returnee migrant workers in 2004.

We operate on the principle of human rights first priority, gender justice, child protection, and non-discrimination. OKUP is registered with NGO Affairs Bureau, the government of Bangladesh, registration no. 2343 dated 24/04/2008.

The vision of OKUP is to create enabling environment for migrant workers across borders, and irrespective of gender and legal status. We work for promoting informed migration by choice, ending labour trafficking, forced labour and slavery.

Our priority intervention areas are promoting migration through legal pathways, fair and ethical recruitment, migrants’ access to basic services, access to justice, climate migration, and sustainable reintegration and livelihoods of the migrants and left behind families and protection of migrants’ children.

Our Mission are:

• To reduce migration-related risks and vulnerabilities with the focus of labour trafficking through pre-departure interventions
• To provide direct assistance for social reintegration of the vulnerable migrant through repatriation, family reunification, shelter, health (particularly Sexual and Reproductive Health), Legal and paralegal support and services
• To espouse sustainable livelihoods and economic reintegration of the returnees and the communities for sustainable development
• To organise migrant worker and the families for unity, empowerment and flag their voice and perspective into migration discourse
• To carry out Action Research and evidence-based advocacy at all levels

We have demand-driven interventions for the migrant workers especially women at different stages of migration including safe migration awareness, need based supports and assistance to vulnerable and survivor returnee migrant workers. We have intensive case management activities for social reintegration of the vulnerable migrant workers.

We provide supports to establish local market-driven economic reintegration and sustainable livelihoods of the returnees, left behind families as well as climate induced migrants.  

Over the years, we have conducted more than 20 action-oriented research and have been able to flag the migrants’ perspectives in the whole discourse of migration. We are actively engaged in national, regional and global campaigns and advocacy on migrants’ rights and protection issues.

We are present and implements projects in 20 Upazilas (sub-district) of 12 Districts in Bangladesh (Dhaka, Narayangonj, Munshigonj, Narsingdi, Cumilla, Brahmmanbaria, Manikgonj, Faridpur, Sylhet, Khulna, Bagerhat, Cox’s Bazar). We have proven experiences in engaging with respective migrants’ groups and dealing with bilateral and multilateral organizations on migration work: ILO, the EU, DFID, USAID, NORAD, CAFOD, SCCF, FCL, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation etc.

We closely work with several regional network organizations including Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Global Alliance Against Trafic in Women (GAATW), Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM) in Asia, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN). 

Chairperson and Executive Director