Date of publication:

01/09/2026

Bangladesh

Do domestic laws and policies allow forcibly displaced and stateless persons to engage in wage-earning employment and protect them against arbitrary deprivation of, or dismissal from, employment?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

Article 20 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states that “[w]ork is a right, a duty, and a matter of honour for every citizen who is capable of working, and everyone shall be paid for his work on the basis of the principle from each according to his abilities, to each according to his work”, which essentially does not give refugees or asylum-seekers the right to work in Bangladesh as it refers to citizens of the country. 

On the other hand, the 2006 Labour Act does not refer to citizenship and applies to the whole of Bangladesh, as per Section 1(3). While in theory the Labour Act and rights therein may be argued as applicable also to refugees and asylum-seekers, Article 7(2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, excludes them. The Article states that “the Constitution is, as the solemn expression of the will of the people, the supreme law of the Republic, and if any other law is inconsistent with this Constitution that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void”. As noted above, the Constitution explicitly states citizens in reference to the right to work.  

Section 10 of the Foreigners Order, 1951, imposes restrictions of employment on non-citizens and further states, “[n]o foreigner shall without the general or special permission in writing of the civil authority, enter any premises relating to, or be employed in, or in connection with- (1) any undertaking for the supply to Government or to the public of light, petroleum, powers or water, or- (2) any other undertaking which may be specified by the Central Government in this behalf.”

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
    • Year: 1972
    • Type: Domestic law
    • Rights Category: Asylum, Education, Freedom of movement, Health, Housing, land & property, Liberty & security of person, Nationality & facilitated naturalization, Social protection, Work & Workplace rights, Family life, Documentation
    • Link to external source: https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/1972/en/101782

    Legal provision

    Article 20 - Work as a right and duty

    (1) Work is a right, a duty, and a matter of honor for every citizen who is capable of working, and everyone shall be paid for his work on the basis of the principle “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his work”. (2) The State shall endeavor to create conditions in which, as a general principle, persons shall not be able to enjoy unearned incomes, and in which human labor in every form, intellectual and physical, shall become a fuller expression of creative endeavor and of the human personality.

    The Foreigners Order

    Legal provision

    Restrictions on employment

    No foreigner shall without the general or special permission in writing of the civil authority, enter any premises relating to, or be employed in, or in connection with- (1) any undertaking for the supply to Government or to the public of light, petroleum, powers or water, or- (2) Any other undertaking which may be specified by the Government in this behalf.

    The Bangladesh Labour Act

    Legal provision

    Short title, introduction and application

    1 (3) Unless otherwise provided elsewhere in this Act, this Act shall apply to the whole of Bangladesh.