On the 11 th of December 2016, Adrian Pereira, the former IMCS AP coordinator(2007-2009) had an opportunity to share his experience of working in the field of Human Rights with Bangladesh Catholic Students Movement (BCSM).BCSM is the Bangladeshi affiliate of IMCS AP(please add full form) The programme took place at The Catholic Bishops' Conference Of Bangladesh and was organized by the BCSM president, William Nokrek and his committee. Adrian , who hails from Malaysia currently runs a social justice consortium called the North South Initiative(NSI) which is based in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Adrian came to Bangladesh to be part of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) civil society initiatives as invited by his partners, Migrant Forum in Asia(MFA).

During the his sharing with the students , various human rights related topics emerged such as Islamophobia, racism ,poverty, fundamentalism, migration, gender justice, minority issues, the Rohingyas, Bangladeshi liberation history and Pakistan- Bangladesh relationship. As Catholics in Bangladesh are minority, Adrian challenged the Catholic students to break out of their victim and minority complex as it hindered their growth and full potential. Even though they are minority(0.3%) in a country of almost 160 million, Bangladeshi Catholics have a lot of privileges to enjoy such as better private education in missionary schools, opportunities to study abroad with scholarships, and affiliation to movements like Pax Romana and Caritas. And at the same time, it was vital for Bangladeshi Catholics to think twice before leaving the country as migrant workers to avoid brain drain and to ensure that there is a continuous leadership to guide the future generations of BCSM leaders. Adrian also said that to give space for women leaders to progress in Bangladesh, the men must vacate their leadership to ensure women have a boost.

Adrian thanked the BCSM leaders , especial their president, Mr William for the opportunity to raise challenging topics related to human rights. He hopes that BCSM will continue the discussions on human rights and even organize more human rights training for the local Bangladeshi students. During his stay, Adrian also got the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with the past presidents and secretaries of BCSM, the Caritas Bangladesh leadership, Action for Catholic Professionals, Future Watch Movement, the Dhaka BCSM Chaplain, the Catholic Youth Commission and others. Adrian wishes that the Catholic Church of Bangladesh continue to be a beacon of hope and justice, not just to Catholics, but to other citizens in Bangladesh.And for this to happen, the Catholic Church in Bangladesh must network and build solidarity with many other progressive groups in Bangladesh and globally. Adrian can be contacted at liberationx@gmail.com.