52 While national policies do not carry the force of law, they do have an important agenda-setting role and serve as guidelines for the
drafting and implementation of new legislation and/or amendments to existing legislation. Various national policies have also been
cited by the High Court in cases of judicial activism, reading certain rights and entitlements into broader constitutional guarantees.
53 In BNWLA vs. The Cabinet Division and Others (WP No. 3598 of 2010), the HCD directed the Government to ensure mandatory
registration of all domestic workers by employers at the Municipal Corporation level as well as a registration scheme for parents who
send their children from villages and rural areas to work as domestic workers in urban areas in order to prevent child trafficking and
exploitation (p 33); however, these directives have yet to be implemented beyond the formulation of the national policy.
54 Asia Foundation and the Center for Peace and Justice, BRAC University, “Navigating the Margins: Family, Mobility and Livelihoods
amongst Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh,” August 2020.
55 Within the purview of its guideline-issuing competency, the BMDC has also recently issued guidelines on conducting “telemedicine”
via phone/internet: Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council, “Telemedicine Guidelines,” July 2020.
56 Although the High Court Division ordered that these Guidelines be implemented and despite having been published in 2017,
difficulties in accessing emergency healthcare for road crash victims continue to be widespread. After BLAST filed a contempt of
court petition, the HCD issue a Rule on the Ministry of Health and others, to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken
against them for failure to effectively implement the Policy: “High Court rules against Health Secretary DG,” Ittefaq, 18 August 2020.
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BE YOND REFU GE: ADVANCING LEG AL PROTECTIONS FOR ROHINGYA C OMMUNITIES IN BANGL ADESH
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