The State Minister for Labour and Employment told the parliament the other day that as many as 12,183 foreigners are working in the country. The Special Branch (SB) reported 400,000 to be the number and most of them working without work permit. The FE observed that foreigners from a particular country alone sent home US$ 3.71 million last year and the number of foreign workers, mostly illegal, in the country is said to be 600,000 or more. This is the scenario when millions of local youth including those who are qualified, remain jobless. This is because of our corrupt mindset and unnecessary indulgence with foreigners. We claim to be too friendly while the government is yet to formulate a specific law to deal with the issue even after 42 years.
In fact, Bangladesh is one of the very few havens on earth for foreigners who get limitless hospitality. As a former Bangladeshi expatriate, this writer would like to say that checking illegal migration is one of the toughest agenda for every nation. Most of our people from top to bottom are talented and have been working with name, fame and credibility side by side with the multi-nationals. We have a lot of success stories outside the country, but unfortunately, we can not work at home with similar eagerness, specially under political leadership that hardly cares about integrity and wisdom. In fact, we are immersed in political corruption.
It has been reported by concerned agencies that most of the foreign workers are instrumental in triggering unrest in some segments of our industrial sector and facilitating money laundering as well. As such, if the ruling quarters remain inactive or reluctant to act on the issue, the issue will one day become explosive.
It is time that all concerned in the treasury and the opposition benches work unitedly to take the issue of illegal migrants who virtually eat up jobs of our own unemployed people and do the needful. It is not very difficult to find the illegal migrants working under the shelter of some unpatriotic Bangladeshis in the way all foreign countries have evolved a well-knit monitoring system to track down the illegal migrants. They have the necessary arrangements to deport them immediately.
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