Govt search for alternative labour markets half-hearted

Kamrun Nahar | Published: April 16, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Kamrun Nahar
The government's various initiatives to explore alternative labour markets abroad have failed to bring about the desired results during the last seven months, though five delegations were formed in late 2010 to visit 17 countries, said industry insiders. "The five teams were supposed to visit 17 countries, but the process is still on papers only, as no significant progress is yet visible," said Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA). He also said the country's manpower export is now passing through a crucial time, as many overseas labour markets are already closed, and some are troubled. "The government should attach the highest priority to the issue, and work together with private sector to resolve the crisis," he said. "Our diplomatic missions in various countries are not cordial and efficient enough in dealing manpower issues." The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment formed five delegations to visit at least 17 countries in Europe, Australia, East Asia and Africa, and search new employment opportunities. The potential labour destinations included Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The government, however, has a different view on the issue. "Our teams have already visited Australia and some countries in Europe and Africa. As there is no concrete employment information, we are not sending delegations abruptly," Expatriates' Welfare secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan told the FE Friday. He said unlike other governments in the past, the present government is very sincere in addressing the manpower issue. "We have ratified the UN convention on expatriates' welfare on April 11, just to recognise their rights and welfare, which no other government did so far." "We are trying to open up the Malaysian labour market. The market in Saudi Arabia is already opened. There is no chance that our labour markets will be squeezed, rather they will be expanded in future," he added. According to the recent reports, seven million Bangladeshi expatriates sent home over $11 billion remittance in a year, of which 49 per cent came from the 26 million workers in Saudi Arabia. The industry insiders said though the decline of the job market was substantiated by economic recession, irregularities in the recruitment process and ignorance of the people concerned also caused the recent downtrend in manpower export. The BAIRA secretary general said the government should train up the workers to cater to the market demand, before sending them to the new destinations in Europe, America or Latin America. Besides, there should be a research cell as in the Philippines and India for conducting market research and analysis in this regard. He said if the government fails to provide alternatives to the repatriated Bangladeshi workers from Libya, and if more people return home from the Middle Eastern countries due to any new crisis, then there would be a major social problem in Bangladesh, as most of those people would have no income. The secretary said the government has taken several initiatives to prepare the local labours for the overseas job markets. Besides, the government has reduced migration cost, and also established a research wing, which will start working soon. He said the recruiting agencies of private sector, with their various unethical practices, are mostly responsible for causing damage to Bangladeshi labour market abroad. "The agencies take excessive migration cost, and cheat with workers regarding job and salary. There are a number of incidents of forgery that have contributed to intensify the crisis," said Mr Ahmed. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, home of at least 3.0 million Bangladeshi workers, stopped hiring new workforce in late 2006 and 2008, due to illegal activities by workers and excessive migration cost, he added. According to the government study, 50 per cent of Bangladeshi expatriate workers are unskilled, 31 per cent are skilled, 16 per cent are semi-skilled, and 3.0 per cent are professionals.