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Manpower export: The luxury of allowing the rot

Arafat Ara | November 30, 2017 12:00:00


A rush of people seeking different services at the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) in Dhaka — FE Photo

The country's overseas employment has increased significantly in the recent months. The Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry estimated that about 1.0 million workers would get jobs abroad in 2017. It is good news for the jobless youths, especially those who are seeking jobs overseas. According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), more than 0.8 million workers already went abroad with jobs during the January-October period in 2017. After 2007 and 2008, it is the highest outflow of workers from the country. Bangladesh started manpower export in 1976 with about 6,000 workers hired by some Middle Eastern countries. Since then more than 10 million workers have gone abroad from the country.

So the number is increasing. But what is the impact of this on the country's overall remittance earnings. In last two years the inward remittance flow showed a declining trend. In 2016, the inward remittance stood at $13.61 billion, the lowest in five years, according to the Bangladesh Bank data. The amount is lower than 2015's receipts by 11.13 per cent. Besides, during the July-October period of the current fiscal year (2017-18), the inward remittance flow reached US$ 4.55 billion. If the trend continues, the earnings may drop further this year, experts fear.

However, another important issue is there is no available official data on how many workers return home every year. So we only see the number of workers going abroad. But we are in the dark about how many workers have come back home and why they have returned.

There are different factors behind the sluggish trend of remittances inflow. Following lower oil prices and fiscal policy tightening in the Gulf and other Arab countries or Brexit in the UK, the flow of remittances dropped, says a report of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit. Fraudulent practices in the migration process are adversely affecting the income of migrants, according to the report.

Another reason is expatriate workers prefer to send their hard-earned money through hundi as they get better exchange rates. They also get hassle-free services through this unofficial channel. Unless the bank rate is raised, it is difficult to inspire them to use the official channel for remitting money home. Conducting an awareness campaign is also necessary against the use of the illegal channel. Bangladeshi expatriates are usually investing their money in the destination countries. Investment opportunities back at home should be increased and made easier for them.

On the other hand, because of the lack of required training, Bangladeshi skilled workers cannot meet the international standard. So they are deprived of better wages and other related facilities. So, the flow of remittances is not increasing keeping pace with the number of workers going abroad.

Bangladesh's skilled workers get lower wages in comparison with others from countries like India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia. An Indian worker gets on an average US$ 494 monthly in Kuwait whereas a Bangladeshi worker gets US$ 347, according to an ILO (International Labour Organisation) report covering the Asia-Pacific and Gulf regions.

About 71 Technical Training Centres (TTCs) are running under the BMET where candidates are being imparted training on about 45 trades. Because of the lack of a proper policy they are still sending abroad mostly less-skilled workers. About 49 per cent of the outbound workers sent abroad from the country in 2016 were less-skilled. Less-skilled workers are not only deprived of standard wages but also are exploited at home and abroad.

Women workers are sufferers mostly due to inadequate training. Their number is increasing gradually. But they can't contribute properly to the economy. They face workplace exploitations. Many of the women are forced to return home before completing their contract periods. In the last 10 years more than 100,000 women went abroad with jobs.

The rights situation also has not improved in job destination countries. On the other hand, the overseas job seekers also are being cheated in different ways by dishonest recruiting agencies at home. The ILO says more than 75 per cent of migrant workers receive wages lower than what they were promised before they left home. Around 14.5 per cent of the respondents said they did not get wages on time.

Although the government has fixed a ceiling of the migration cost, outbound workers are forced to pay three times the officially-fixed rates. Due to an active nexus between middlemen and a section of recruiting agencies, the migration cost has increased. A large number of workers said they spent up to Tk 350,000 to go to Malaysia and up to Tk 800,000 for Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Sector insiders say without stopping visa trading and interference of middlemen, it is quite impossible to check such unethical migration costs.

A sum of Tk 52.34 billion was laundered from Bangladesh in 2016 to seven labour receiving countries, especially the Middle East, in the form of buying visas for sending workers abroad, according to a TIB (Transparency International Bangladesh) report released in March last. Besides, at least 90 per cent of the total outbound male Bangladeshi workers were cheated in many ways, it also said. The money was laundered through hundi to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia and Singapore, the report said.

As the Bangladeshi workers get low wages, they cannot recover the cost during their contract period. So, often they choose to overstay there illegally.

The non-governmental organisation Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) revealed a report that showed Bangladeshi workers were spending more but earning less. The report on 'Recruitment for Overseas Employment: Opportunities and Challenges' last year said the Bangladeshi expatriate workers got monthly wages of only Tk 14,000 to Tk 38,000 in Middle Eastern countries and Tk 20,000 to Tk 50,000 in Malaysia and Singapore.

Currently many workers are facing an uncertain future in Saudi Arabia. They were hired with a minimum migration cost of Tk 600,000 each. Many of them in the meantime have communicated with the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh for assistance. So far this oil-rich country has recruited more than 450,000 workers. Of the total, about 90 per cent went there on individual or so-called free visas. Some dishonest manpower recruiters with the help of a section of corrupt officials, at home and manpower recruiting countries have been sending workers without ensuring valid jobs for them. This trend in no way is helping the efforts for making available jobs for the country's unemployed youths. Many workers are slipping into debts due to such unsuccessful migration.

Migration experts fear that such a trend would leave a further negative impact on Bangladesh's job market in Saudi Arabia. After a seven-year ban, the Gulf-country reopened its job market in August 2016. It put restrictions on recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in 2008.

Bangladesh should reduce its dependence on such a labour market where job opportunities are shrinking. And it should cease to be identified as a source country of less-skilled workers as the demand for skilled workers is increasing worldwide.

Nomita Halder, secretary in charge of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE), has said at a workshop that Japan is very eager to hire workers from Bangladesh. "Unless we can ensure proper training on trades in demand, it is tough to enter the job market," she added.

Bangladeshi workers are facing a steep competition with those from other countries like Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. There is a great demand for workers in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in Japan. The Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) can tap this opportunity. However, BMET has drafted a plan of action on 'Skills Development and Migration Management' (2017-2021) incorporating 52 activities including improving the capacity of 50 Technical Training Centres (TTCs) enabling them to comply with the requirement under the National Technical and Vocational Qualifications Framework (NTVQF). It is a good initiative. But it should be implemented properly.

The writer is a staff reporter at The Financial Express.

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