Dishonest recruiters take job-seekers for a ride

Syful Islam | Published: April 19, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Unscrupulous businessmen are now cheating jobseekers promising them jobs with high salaries in Belarus, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, sources say.
The aspirants are charged between Tk 0.5 million and Tk 0.7 million per head for work permit visas in Belarus with the assurance of monthly salaries ranging between Tk 60,000 and Tk 70,000.
The human traffickers are reportedly taking the advantage of the absence of an embassy of Belarus in Bangladesh. As a result, jobseekers are unable to check visa documents given by the dishonest businessmen.
"We are aware of such malpractices by a section of unscrupulous businessmen. We heard that many workers were returning from the airports being barred by immigration officials from entering Belarus," secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Ali Haider Chowdhury told the FE.
He said jobseekers had to be careful before paying money to such recruiting agents. "We don't see other options to prevent such cheating."
Mr Chowdhury said Belarus, a very small market, might not have great demand for manpower.
"We will take action, if we receive any specific allegations of cheating against any of our members," he said.
Sources said the unscrupulous businessmen were cheating jobseekers saying that Russian embassy in Dhaka would issue the work permit visa for Belarus. They were providing visa documents to jobseekers which were later being found fake.
Some jobseekers were sent to Belarus through illegal means in connivance with a section of dishonest immigration and airport officials, sources said. Later, they were deported by the Belarusian immigration authority, sources added.Â Â Â
When contacted by the FE, a Russian embassy official in Dhaka said Belarus "is an independent country and their embassy has no involvement in providing any kind of Belarus visa."
This correspondent recently received a copy of a visa document provided to a jobseeker by a recruiting agency. The copy was forwarded to the Belarusian embassy in New Delhi. The Third Secretary (Consul) of the embassy Ivan Samsonov certified it fake.
Â "I have seen the attached document. There are a lot of mistakes. Yes, this document is on the letterhead of DCM of MIA Belarus, but I need original for sure. As I told, in the attached document there are a lot of mistakes. And I think it is fake," he wrote in an e-mail communication to the FE.
Mr Samsonov said the visa procedure had been changed to check fraud in the name of sending people to Belarus after receiving complaints regarding visa scams.
"Our government was already informed (also by ambassador of Bangladesh in Moscow) of the incidents that happened with the Bangladeshis, who want to work in the Republic of Belarus. And the procedure for obtaining a work permit was a little bit changed," he noted.
Mr Samsonov mentioned that Belarusian visa could only be obtained from the Belarusian Embassy, not from the Russian Embassy or others. "Other Embassies or Consulates cannot give Belarus visas/work permits. Bangladeshis can obtain Belarus visa from Belarus Embassy in New Delhi, India (we are also accredited to Bangladesh)."
Mr Samsonov requested the jobseekers to be careful to avoid such inconveniences. "Jobseekers must be careful. Because in fact we cannot control the Bangladeshi firms that make fake work permits for Belarus and sell them to Bangladeshi nationals."
"To get a job in Belarus, you need an invitation from a company of the country that requires manpower. A copy of the work permit (issued by the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus) is also needed which must be notarised in the Republic of Belarus," he added.