The outflow of the Bangladeshi manpower has been well below the desired level for quite sometime. Its impact will most certainly be reflected in the country's foreign exchange kitty in the near term. As such, the possibility of a declining rate of growth of remittance inflows has already stirred up worries among the policymakers. They appear to have made up their mind to do something about it. The reasons for the decline in manpower export are a few in numbers. Major ones include poor skill level, illegal stay, unauthorised change of workplace and involvement in criminal activities. Unfortunately, the Bangladeshi expatriates are having an image problem in a number of countries they work.
Only recently South Korea lodged a compliant with the Bangladesh ministry of foreign affairs, saying that some Bangladeshi workers frequently violate the conditions of their contracts of employment and some others stay in that country illegally. A team of Korea's Employment Permit System (EPS) centre in Dhaka met the officials of the ministry of foreign affairs and sought appropriate actions against such errant workers. The team reportedly listed two main reasons -- the tendency to change the workplace frequently and lack of relevant skills -- for Bangladesh's failure to utilise the annual labour export quota reserved for it in South Korea where expatriate workers are otherwise paid well.
South Korea has an altogether different system for recruitment of foreign workers. The EPS, a Korean government enterprise that operates in a number of countries, selects suitable workers after testing their skill level and proficiency in Korean language and put their names on an automated list from where any Korean company can hire workers according to their need. Usually, the Korean companies, after recruitment of new workers, provide necessary training to them to upgrade their level of skill. Allegations have it that the propensity among a section of the Bangladeshi workers to switch over to other workplaces after some days of receiving such training is high. Just because of this attitude, many Korean employers reportedly avoid recruiting the Bangladeshi workers.
Bangladesh that had signed an EPS agreement with South Korea in 2007 and started sending workers through government-to-government channel from the year, 2008, could never fulfil its annual quota. Nearly 10,000 Bangladesh workers took up jobs in that country until now. But the Korean authorities allege that nearly 7.0 per cent of these workers have been illegally staying in that country. South Korea is very sensitive to illegal stay by any foreign national. And the Dhaka EPS team wants the Bangladesh government to do something about it.
There is no denying that illegal entry or illegal stay often put the migrant workers into serious difficulties. Scores have embraced painful death and many are in prisons abroad. The government, in fact, has not done anything tangible until now to discourage the job-seekers from getting into troubles in foreign lands. The finance minister the other day said that the main thrust of the next budget would be given on improving the skill level of the country's human resources for the sake of exporting more manpower. Skill development is, no doubt, a priority need. But while sending workers through legal channels, the government should every time organise counselling sessions to discourage them from doing anything contrary to their contracts of employment and staying illegally in any country. More importantly, the Bangladeshi migrant workers need to have a better image in the manpower-importing countries.
Improving expatriate workers\\\' image
FE Team | Published: May 20, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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