RMMRU Team

Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Dhaka and the founding Chair of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU). Her works on climate change adaptation and migration, drivers and impact of internal and international labour migration, safe and sustainable cities inclusive to migrants have been published in the journals of Population and Environment, Development Policy Review, Urban Studies and in different volumes of Palgrave Macmillan, Edward Edgar, Routledge, Springer etc. She led the drafting of the National Strategy for Disaster and Climate Induced Internally Displaced Persons in Bangladesh, the national Overseas Employment Policy, 2006 and was a committee member that prepared the first draft of the Overseas Employment and Migration Act of 2013.

She is in the Global Editorial Board of Oxford Journal of Migration Studies. Since June, 2019 she has joined the state led Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) as member of the Advisory Committee. She is also one of the members of Board of trustees, Transparency International, Bangladesh Chapter.

Dr. C R Abrar is the Executive Director of RMMRU. He taught International Relations at the University of Dhaka for four decades. His area of research includes Rohingya refugees, short-term labour migrants and citizenship status of the camp dwelling Urdu speaking community in Bangladesh. He has published in national and international journals on labour recruitment industry, social protection and rights of Rohingya refugees.

Abrar played a major role in organising the camp dwelling Urdu speaking youth to assert their Bangladeshi citizenship. He successfully filed a writ petition to secure release of Rohingya refugees who served out their sentences for illegal entry but were continued to be incarcerated. He facilitated the filing of a writ petition that led to the release of more than 200 returnee migrants who were illegally detained and charged. Abrar is a regular contributor to The Daily Star on migration and rights issues.

Nayan Mitra is responsible for management and administration of RMMRU. He leads formulation and implementation of its policies. He assists the Executive Director in holding meetings of Annual General Body and Executive Committee, and dealing with procurement and recruitment. Mitra started his career as a Human Resource Officer in a reputed Pharmaceutical Company. He joined RMMRU as an Assistant Administrative Officer in May 2009. He has completed his Masters from Bangladesh Agricultural University. He has also completed MBA from Bangladesh Open University and received a specialised training on Personnel Management from Bangladesh Institute of Management (BIM).

Md. Parvez Alam is the Senior IT and Communications Officer of RMMRU. Parvez Alam maintains RMMRU office Network, Data Server, and ERP system. He develops and maintains the Unit’s website and the official pages in the social media. He also designs Policy Briefs, Working Papers, and Migration Trends reports. Alam assists the research team in formatting the questionnaires applying online survey techniques (KoBoToolbox, Qualtrics). Alam is also the designated information (alam@rmmru.org) officer of RMMRU. He is a human rights defender and maintains liaison with Forum Asia. Alam has a post-graduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Bangladesh Institute of Science and Technology and he has completed Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) from the American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB).

Kamal Hossain provides technical support during official meetings and workshops, sets up conference and meeting rooms, and maintains the office premises. He is responsible for general secretarial tasks such as distributing documents to staff, managing office equipment, sending mail and photocopying reports. Other duties include ensuring proper functioning of office equipments.

Marina Sultana is leading and providing strategic guidance to the RMMRU programme team on migration governance, inclusion of migrants from the grassroots and protection of migrant rights. She has over two decades of experience in project development, policy and media advocacy, conceptualising video documentaries, monitoring, network building etc. She closely works with government and non-government stakeholders and beneficiaries to ensure qualitative implementation of programmes. She has expertise in Grievance Management System, action research, policy review, field intervention, capacity building, partnership development, and so on. As a migration analyst and activist, she represents RMMRU in various national and global platforms like GFMD, Abu Dhabi Dialogue etc. She has achieved her Masters’ degree in Zoology (Entomology) from the University of Rajshahi and has co-authored a number of publications as well. Ms. Sultana is a Senior Fellow of Safe Migration and Development of Youth Policy Forum.

Rabeya Nasrin is the Project Manager of the Inclusive and Sustainable Economic and Psycho-social Reintegration of the Returned Migrants project of British High Commission. She is mainly responsible for implementing project plans and maintaining liaison with government and non-government stakeholders. She has expertise in proposal development, project management, documentation, report writing, advocacy initiatives, like conferences, consultations, dialogues, capacity development training etc. She is also one of the members of the RMMRU trainer’s pool. She has co-authored one of the chapters in the book “the Other Face of Globalisation” and Migration Trends Report (2017-2020 and 2022). She is also Associate Researcher of the book “Justice at the Doorsteps: Mediation on Migration Fraudulence”, Untold Stories of Migrants: Dreams and Realities (bangla version). She has completed her BSS and MSS from the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka. Her areas of interest are labour migration, gender issues, social development and migration mediation.

Nusrat Mahmood is the Project Manager of the SafeStep Project supported by Winrock International. She is principally responsible monitor and execute project plans, maintain liaison with government, donors and other key stakeholders. She has expertise in project development, report writing, designing the media advocacy plan, materials and strategy, organising press conferences, seminars, trainings and policy dialogues. Mahmood has obtained her LL.B. degree from BRAC University and Post Graduate degree on International Law from East West University. She has independently worked with legal researchers and has assisted on numbers of research related to migration and refugees. She has co-authored one of the chapters in the book The Other Face of Globalisation. Mahmood is also the coordinator of the Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants (BCSM) platform and co-focal of Labour Migration Themetic Working Group (LMTWG). Her areas of interest include human rights, humanitarian law, refugee and migration law.

Ashraka Saleem is the Assistant Programme Officer under the SEEM project. She has more than ten years of working experience in the migration sector at RMMRU. Her main responsibilities are to organise meetings, workshops, consultations, supports the procurement team, maintain files and documentation, support regular administrative works such as official memo, drafting official letters, human resources management, prepare media tracking reports, etc.  She is also responsible to follow-up with the project beneficiaries, collect case stories from the field and prepare reports. She has completed her post-graduation on Social welfare from the National University. She is one of the members of the Gender Committee of RMMRU. Her major areas of interest are human rights, labour migration and social development. 

Mohammad Inzamul Haque is the Project Manager of the SIMS project supported by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation Bangladesh working for the well-being of the migrant community through improved quality of services and information. Inzamul is responsible for overseeing all project activities and he is the contact focal for the government, donors, and other stakeholders. He is the key person to lead the project and supervise the execution of deliverables. He is skilled in advocacy, research, report writing, communication, video documentation, project management and developing digital contents. Mr. Haque has completed his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from BRAC University and Master of Laws (LL.M.) with concentration in International Law from East West University. His research interests include labour rights, human rights, labour migration, refugee law and preventing violent extremism (PVE). His co-authored article on labour rights has been published in the International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, Switzerland.

S N Azad is a specialist on migration, strategic communications, gender empowerment and equity, entrepreneurship, enterprise development. He has, worked for more than two decades on migration, displacement, social exclusion of migrants, stateless children’s safety and education, poverty issues, enterprise development, entrepreneurship mentoring, labour market data management and programme evaluation. He has taught public and development policy, entrepreneurship, strategic management and supply chain management. Azad has done BSS and MSS in International Relations from the University of Dhaka and MA on Migration Studies from University of Sussex, UK. He received orientation on International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and Refugee Law by ICRC, UNHCR and at National Law School of India in Bangalore. Azad is engaged in strategic partnership planning and networking. He is currently a part of the RMMRU programme Skilling of Returnee Migrants through Skills and Enterprise Development Programmes (SRM-SEDP) of the ILO as a Senior Adjunct Fellow.

Md. Shimonuzzaman is the Project Coordinator of the Bangladeshi Labor Migrants in Maldives: Mitigating the Risks and Vulnerabilities to Trafficking and Irregular Migration project supported by The Asia Foundation. He is the contact focal for the government, donors, and other stakeholders. His scope of work includes supervising, managing and coordinating all components of the project with researchers and the team to achieve the project objectives and results; ensuring project management and financial management functions; coordinating researches and the project activities with the researchers, and the team; overseeing the data collection process, data processing and overall field activities; planning, managing, coordinating the programme. An e-book on migrants' legal rights co-edited by him with the Unit's Founding Chair has been published by RMMRU. His areas of interest include human rights, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), labour rights, migration and refugee laws. Mr. Shimon is an enrolled member of Dhaka District Bar Association.

Rukaia Parveen Tuba is a Research Associate at RMMRU. Her responsibilities include conducting research on Support for Skilling and Enterprise Building for Returnee Migrants. She has coordinated field work for the Collection of End of Project Target Data for Impact and Outcome Indicators of ILO Migration Project. She has also worked with policy of the National Strategy on Safe migration and Decent workplace for the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment. She worked with BRAC as a Research Assistant on a project of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. She was a Facilitator at Data 4 Action Project of American Red Cross. Tuba is a senior volunteer at the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society since 2014. Besides, she is a leader of AGRAGAMI programme organised by MCCI. She has completed her M.Sc from Department of Environmental Science, JU and B.Sc from Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, DIU.

Kamrunnahar Kona is the Project Officer of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU). She has versatile work experiences in development arena. Currently, she is responsible for overseeing project performance, project planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, reporting, data management and programme development. She has accomplished her BSS and MSS degree from Department of Population Sciences, Dhaka University.

Mahmudol Hasan Rocky is a Research Coordinator and team leader of a field research group at RMMRU. He is the key person to process and analyse the data by using SPSS software. He is also involved in report writing, questionnaire designing, training, monitoring etc. He is one of the co-authors of the book titled, Impact of Migration on Poverty and Growth in Bangladesh and a co-author a chapters of the book Deltas in the Anthropocene; Where People Live and Move in Deltas; Palgrave Macmillan 2019 and of the journal article titled ‘Human security of urban migrant populations affected by length of residence and environmental hazards’. He is currently involved in the ongoing research project on, ‘Social Cost of Migration on left-behind Elderlies and Siblings.

Tamim Billah is a Research Associate at RMMRU. He graduated in English Literature from the National University and received a Master's degree in Development Studies from BRAC University. At RMMRU, he is involved in policy advocacy research on climate and disaster-induced migration and displacement in Bangladesh. Additionally, he played an important role in successfully planning and delivering a series of advocacy programmes on the adoption of the National Strategy on Internal Displacement as well as he was involved in the preparation of the National Action Plan (2022-2042) to implement that Strategy for the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. His works have been published in several journals including Global Policy, Journal of Peace Research, and Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers etc. Currently, he is coordinating research on Just and Resilient Planned Relocation from Climate Change Project supported by the University of Exeter.

Md. Redwanul Islam Chowdhury has been working as a Research and Communication Officer at RMMRU since 2021. He completed BSS and MSS in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chittagong. At RMMRU, he worked on several research projects including ‘Safe and sustainable cities: human security, migration, and well-being’, ‘Building resilience to violent extremism among Bangladeshi migrant workers’, ‘Impact of Migration on Poverty and Development’ etc as a Field Research Assistant. He was engaged in the preparation of the National Action Plan (2022-2042) to implement the National Strategy for the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. He organised several national and facilitated local-level stakeholder workshops. He has expertise in proofreading, photo voice research, FGDs, and quantitative data collection using KoboToolbox and analysing the data as well. Currently, he is working on the Just and Resilient Planned Relocation from Climate Change Project funded by the University of Exeter, UK.

Parvez Bhuiyan is working for RMMRU as a Research Assistant. He supervises field research activities during the data collection phase in various projects of RMMRU. He assists in data analysis using SPSS. Additionally, he also takes part in data checking, cleaning and correction. He also trains the Field Enumerators. He co-authored a chapter of the book ‘Impact of Migration on Transformation to Sustainability: Poverty and Development in Bangladesh’. He is now working in the project, titled ‘Social Cost of Migration on Left-behind Elderly and Siblings’. He has been working for RMMRU since 2019 as Field Research Assistant and Field Supervisor in different projects. He completed his graduation from Dhaka International University (DIU). His research interest covers migration, climate change, human trafficking and human rights.

Kaisar Hossain is in-charge of RMMRU’s financial management. He joined RMMRU in 2005. He completed MBA in Accounting and Information Systems (AIS) from University of Dhaka and has completed M. Com in Management. He supervises the overall fund management and budgetary control of RMMRU. His responsibilities are reviewing, managing and monitoring the financial staff, activity and coordination between projects, maintaining liaison with donors, NGOAB, NBR and other related stakeholders, analysing budget, identifying and monitoring variance, and developing control mechanism, reviewing expenditure patterns and budget compliance, ensuring monthly/quarterly/yearly financial statement, bank reconciliation statement, assisting and guiding the management by providing relevant financial information, providing financial support for procurement and logistic requirement, reviewing and checking accounting records, all types of vouchers and transactions on regular basis for adequacy of documentation and availability, identifying problems and developing solutions for best financial practice. He is a member of senior management team of RMMRU.

Mohammed Sherajul Islam is an Accounts Officer at RMMRU. He is responsible for preparing and maintaining voucher, ledger, cash book, bank book, bank reconciliation, financial report, budget variance and different kind of registers related to finance and accounts and is responsible for tracking all the financial transactions for implementing the programme and preparing accounts as per the requirements of the funding agency. He ensures compliance with VAT and Income Tax act of GoB. He also conducts field monitoring visit as per project plan in coordination with accounts and programme. Islam is responsible for completing all relevant papers and statement needed for audit process and responsing to audit findings. He has completed CA(CC)under the ICAB andhas completed his graduation and post graduation from Govt. Titumir College. He has three years of working experience in auditing as well.

Md. Qazi Sham Sun Newaz is an Accounts Officer at RMMRU. He is responsible for checking all outgoing and incoming transactions, keeping records of all expenses for annual auditing purposes and specialises in performing different accounting tasks. Additionally, he summarises and analyses all financial documents in order to prepare reports on Financial Status during Management meetings. He is also skilled in Tally Software. Newaz is also able to perform auditing tasks, ensuring that financial transactions are accurately represented. He has completed CA-CC from Ata Khan & Co. under the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). After completing CA-CC, he started his career in the Manufacturing Industry.

Imran Ul Haque is the Accounts Officer at RMMRU. He has completed his BBS and MBS in Management under the National University. His main responsibilities are to prepare and maintain books of accounts, financial statements as per the requirements of donor agency and management. Haque also prepares receipts and payment vouchers, journal voucher, cash book, bank book, petty cash, general ledger, vat-tax challan, maintains various register related to finance and accounts on a day-to-day basis and ensures expenses are reasonable, allowable and allocable to the project. He also provides financial information needed to respond to audit findings. He has been working with RMMRU since 2017.

Nazma Akhter is the Field Coordinator at RMMRU under the SafeStep project of Winrock International and the Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Psycho-Social Reintegration (ISEPR) project of the British High Commission Bangladesh. Her key responsibilities are coordinating and implementing the field level activities, monitoring, and maintaining liaison with district-level government and non-government stakeholders. She has expertise in migration mediation, awareness campaign, capacity-building training, and management of MRPCs, GMCs, Advisory Group and Youth Volunteer Groups as well economic reintegration of returnee migrants. She plays a key role in organising district-level workshops, seminars, dialogues, training, meetings, referral support etc. Additionally she is assigned to develop project materials, documentation, and programme and financial report. She is also responsible for managing the field staffs accounts, banking transactions, administration, procurement, etc. She has thirty years of vast experience in project implementation at the field level. She has obtained her BA degree from National University.

Ayub Ali is the Field manager at RMMRU under the Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Psycho-social Reintegration (ISEPR) project of the British High Commission Bangladesh. Mr Ayub is assigned to implement field activities along with monitoring, report writing, documentation, community engagement, reintegration and business support. Additionally he is assigned in conducting courtyard meetings, pre-decision and pre-departure training, proving linking and referral support for vulnerable migrants etc, he is also in charge of organizing mediations, field-level workshops, consultations, and training. He is skilled in communication and liaison building with government and non-government stakeholders and migrant communities. He is responsible for managing field accounts, banking transactions, administration, procurement, etc. His main areas of interest are promoting safe labour migration, remittance management and developing a close connection with the vulnerable migrant community. Ayub has completed B. Com in Accounting at National University. He has thirteen years of experience in the migration sector.

Nazmul Hoque Moni is a Programme Officer at RMMRU under SafeStep project of Winrock International. He began as a Research Assistant at RMMRU, and promoted to Assistant Programme Officer later under FLM project. His core responsibilities are to implement field activities, manage the field team, conduct training, workshops and meetings, counseling, conduct pre-decision and pre-departure training at the field level. He is skilled in communication with Government line agencies, NGOs, CSOs and migrants. He is assigned to maintain liaison with local government, UDC, CTC members, DC office, upazila office. Moni has expertise in documentation, reporting, collection of beneficiaries' profiles, case collect and documentation, event management, monitoring and follow-up field activities and etc. He has more than six years of experience in the migration sector. He obtained his Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management (BTHM) from IBAIS University. His areas of interest are safe migration, awareness building in migrant community, developing IGA plan for migrant’s community etc.

Mr Mahmudul Hassan is a Programme officer at RMMRU under the Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Psycho-social Reintegration (ISEPR) project of the British High Commission. He is responsible for field activities implementation, report writing, gathering information and data for cases etc. He plays a key role in arranging mediations, courtyard meetings, advisory committee meetings, training etc at the field level. He is competent in local-level communication with the migrant community and liaisons with stakeholders. Additionally, he is also assigned of documenting the mediation session and cases. Mr Hassan has completed his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Eastern University and Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the same University. His research interests include Human rights, Humanitarian law, Labour law, Migrants law, refugee law and Alternative dispute resolution (ADR). He has research work on “The Rohingya Genocide: Compilation and Analysis of Survivors Testimonies” under Liberation War Museum Bangladesh.

Yashin Arafat is a Field Facilitator at RMMRU under SafeStep project of Winrock International. His significant roles include implementing field activities through developing close connectivity with migrant stakeholders at the grassroots level. He is also responsible for organising meetings, training, workshops, etc. He has maintained general administrative tasks such as drafting reports, collecting information from the field, providing logistics support, migrant & migrant family support and communication, communication with community leaders and group members, etc. communicating with migrants’ households, making phone calls, conducting follow-ups, etc. He also maintains data entry & reporting. He was previously engaged in the Fairer Labor Migration in Bangladesh (FLM) project. Arafat has completed Graphic Design and Multimedia from ICT- Institute of Computer Technology & works as a designer in the Tangail office. He is in his final year of BSc in Computer Science engineering (CSE) at Northern University Bangladesh (NUB).

Rajib Chandra Ghush is a Programme Officer at RMMRU under the Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Psycho-social Reintegration (ISEPR) project of the British High Commission Bangladesh. He is responsible for maintaining Migrants Service Center (MSC) and providing emergency support to the vulnerable returnee migrants like food support, shelter home, medical support, transportation service and counselling support and so on. He is competent in maintaining communication with the PKD of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, relevant stakeholders and vulnerable migrants and their family as well. He is assigned to maintain the database and prepare reports, case stories etc. He successfully contributed to the World Bank Capacity Assessment Project (Inventory Survey), IOM-MFA Re-Intermigration Project (Humanitarian Support) and RMMRU-SDC Female Migrants Death Project (Research). He has completed his BA (Hons.) in Graphic Design and Multimedia and an MBA in Finance and Banking from the Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology.

Santa Rani is the District Coordinator of SIMS Project at RMMRU. She is responsible to ensure quality programme implementation through supervising Programme Officers and Upazila Coordinators, undertaking monitoring and evaluation functions, reporting, maintaining communication, and liaison with migration stakeholders at district level. Previously, she worked as Camp Focal and IMO at NGO Forum on Wash & amp, Protection Support Programme, Station Manager of Radio Sarabela (SKS Foundation) and Communication Officer in Borendra Unnoyan Prochesta. She was also an announcer at Bangladesh Betar, Rajshahi. During her career Rani achieved expertise in communication, advocacy, knowledge management, media administration, journalism with a special focus on gender, protection, CwC, and SBCC. She got the prestigious Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) award-2017, Meena Media Award-2017 (UNICEF) and was privileged to be a speaker in International Community Radio Conference-2017 at Thailand and panel speaker in ABU 54th assembly at China. She is a post-graduate in Psychology from Rajshahi University.

Md. Afzal Hossain is the Monitoring Officer at SIMS Project in RMMRU. His main responsibilities are to monitor overall activities of the SIMS project with project target, develop different monitoring tools, measure achievements against the performance indicators, maintain the M&E database, identify lessons learned and develop case studies to capture qualitative outputs. As a project member, he is responsible for the monitoring of effective MEAL system and cross-cutting issues such as participation, gender, age, and disability are effectively addressed/ mainstreamed in all the project activities. Hossain has more than twelve years experience in the development field and also in programme monitoring and implementation, performance monitoring, and MIS-related activities. He has completed his BSc and MSc from the Department of Statistics, Rajshahi University.

Md. Shazzad Kabir Bhuiyan is the Programme Officer- Remittance Management at RMMRU under SIMS Project. His main responsibilities are to organise and conduct financial literacy training, skill development training, update financial literacy and enterprise/IGA database, maintain liaison with skill training providers, business entities and develop business plans. He is also responsible to maintain coordination and organise linkage building meetings with MFIs, banks, financial service providers, and so on. He is involved in developing project materials, documentation and report writing on remittance management. Bhuiyan has completed his BBA from Stamford University in Accounting and MBA from Jagannath University in Accounting and Information Systems (AIS). His main areas of interest are labour migration, remittance management, business and entrepreneurship development, human rights, and social development.

Mohammed Atiqur Rahman is the Programme Officer-Access to Justice of SIMS project at RMMRU. His areas of work are to ensure justice for the migrant workers and the members of their families through coordinating with relevant public and private stakeholders. His key responsibilities include formulating and ensuring quality of Migrant Rights Protection Committees and Grievance Management Committees, identification of migration related disputes, and refer to GMCs, DEMO/ BMET or court cases. He is also responsible for maintaining a complaint database, regular follow-up and keeping liaison with the public and private stakeholders at the union, upazila, district and national level stakeholders to ensure access to justice for the project beneficiaries. His areas of interest include human rights, migrant law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and labour law.

Mehedi Hasan is the Accounts and Admin Officer at SIMS project of RMMRU. He is mainly responsible for preparing vouchers on day-to-day transactions and ensuring expenses are reasonable, allowable and allocable to the project. His key responsibilities also include maintaining books of accounts, petty cash, deduction of Tax & VAT at the source where applicable, and submission of relevant return on Tax & VAT office. He prepares the monthly financial reports and monthly budget variance reports. Mr. Hasan also performs administrative responsibilities at Obhibashi Sheba Kendra, RMMRU, Cumilla. Mehedi has completed CACC in 2022 from a reputed CA firm under ICAB.

Shovo Chandra Das is the Support Staff of Obhibashi Sheba Kendar, RMMRU, Cumilla. He is providing support during meetings and workshops at the field level alongside maintaining meeting rooms and the office premises. He is also responsible for distributing and collecting documents, managing office equipment, sending and collecting courier, photocopying required documents, printing banners etc. Mr. Das has completed a Krishi Diploma Course from Krishi and Karigori College, Cumilla.