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Foreigners working illegally in Bangladesh

May 25, 2019 00:00:00


Many foreigners are working illegally in Bangladesh. As their incomes are not being recorded in the official books, our country is missing out on a huge amount of revenue that could have been derived in the form of taxes. Almost all of them send a huge chunk of their money to their home countries through unofficial channels.

Due to lax monitoring, many foreigners come to Bangladesh on tourist visa, get jobs and continue to work here. In the apparels sector, many Indians and Sri Lankans are working without employment visa.

In order to work in Bangladesh, foreigners are required to get their work permit from the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA). Many have chosen not to do so.

We do not have any problems with foreigners working in Bangladesh. But they need to obey the rules and law.

Additionally, the government agencies have no data on the number of foreign nationals working in our country. It can be assumed that the number might be no less than 0.5 million. Every year, more than US$ 4 billion of outward remittances are being sent from Bangladesh to India.

I hope the Bangladesh government will make employment visa process for foreigners more convenient and hassle-free. Also, the government should ensure measures so that no one can stay or work illegally in Bangladesh.

Sajjad Hossain

Gulshan, Dhaka


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