The country's overseas job seekers are heavily dependent on middlemen in every stage of their migration process in the absence of easy access to the services rendered by the government and the authorised private recruiting agencies, rights activists said at a seminar Wednesday.
They also said the government's initiatives to reduce migration costs and illegal migration are hardly benefiting the workers because of involvement of the middlemen in this process.
The rights campaigners were speaking at a seminar on dissemination of a study on "The Mapping and Scoping of Services for the Migrant Workers of Bangladesh at Various Stages of Labour Migration Cycle'.
It was organised by the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU) at the Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University.
The study says migrants depend more on informal agents than the authorised recruiters and state institutions.
This means most aspirant migrants are unaware of the safe migration practices and tend to rely on their friends, families and local intermediaries.
It also identifies a drawback that the government has yet to develop any emergency fund or policy for repatriation of stranded, deported or detained workers abroad.
There are hardly any formal support services available for migrants seeking to reintegrate with the society back home or further pursue an international career.
Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chair of RMMRU, moderated the programme. She said the presence of intermediaries is there in every stage of migration. Without involvement of middlemen, workers are not able to go abroad.
So the government should properly address the issue, she added.
Syed Saiful Haque, chairman of WARBE Development Foundation, stressed the need for forming necessary committees and cells to implement the migration policy-2016 properly.
He also said mindset of manpower recruiting officials needs to be changed about migrant workers.
Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, joint secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), emphasised the need for bringing the middlemen under a registration programme. They can be enlisted at the Upazilla or district level to make them accountable. A database can be there.
He, however, said the government can include migration as a subject in the national curriculum for the sake of better understanding of migration.
Badrul Arefin, joint secretary of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, said they are imparting all necessary skills training to outbound female workers. But they are not attentive in the training classes.
That is why after 30 days' training women can't gather knowledge, he said.
"Many times they escape from the employers' houses and safe home without any reason," Mr Arefin said. So, it is difficult to deal with such workers abroad. Gazi Mohammad Julhash, director general of Wage Earners' Welfare Board, was also present at the programme.
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