While migration in the country refers mainly to males, the situation is now taking a different turn with female job seekers going abroad-an altogether new phenomenon. For quite sometime, the government was not in favour of sending female migrants, and the civil society had fought the government to change its stand on the matter claiming women's equal rights to economic development. Countries like the Phillipines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia had been sending female migrants in large numbers and reaping economic benefits from it. Female labour migration offers a great opportunity since the local economy cannot absorb the low-skilled and uneducated workforce. For many women, migration can bring opportunity to change their lives as well as their families for the better.
For the last couple of years, the government has been prioritising female labour migration; as a result the number of the female migrants has gone up. Most Bangladeshi female migrants went to the Middle Eastern countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain etc.
But there are several problems facing female migration. Although the government and recruiting agencies are claiming zero-cost migration, it has been reported that the aspiring female workers have been paying a high amount to the middleman in order to get selected.
Once abroad, female migrants are more vulnerable compared to their male counterparts as they are often subjected to gender-based discrimination, such as low wage and physical and mental abuse. Since most of them are employed in household environment, they are also subjected to long working hours, limited movement and lack of personal space.
Over the years, the government has taken many initiatives for the betterment of the migrant workers and a steady flow of manpower export. It has developed training facilities all over the country that give potential migrants basic training. But these are mostly meant for aspiring male migrants. The government also passed "Overseas employment and migration Act" in 2013. The Act emphasises implementing the rules and regulations involved in the migration process, but it does not include any specific clause aiming at the female migrants.
There is no denying that if provided with required training and congenial workplace atmosphere is ensured, more and more women will be willing to opt out for seeking jobs overseas. Various studies have shown that female migrants tend to save more and send more remittance than their male counterparts. The remittances are likely to be spent on education and health of their family members.
A number of initiatives have to be taken by the government to bring in the required facilitation. These among others include: training on language proficiency, good workplace environment, freedom of the migrants to keep their passports and cell phones with them, signing of MoUs by the government with the host governments as regards safety, wage, overtime, leave and all other relevant issues that must be adhered to by the employer/s overseas.
The writer works as a field researcher of Centre for Genocide Studies (CGS), University of Dhaka and has worked on a Baseline Survey Team on safe migration recently.
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