Dhaka to push Tripoli for receiving more workers

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A Z M Anas
Bangladesh will push Libya for receiving more workers and in turn promise to stem "visa forgery" when overseas employment minister and his team meet this week their Libyan counterparts in Tripoli, officials said Sunday.
Tripoli signed a deal with Dhaka in 2008 on receiving thousands of Bangladeshi workers over the next five years as part of the North African nation's massive infrastructure development plan worth US$100 billion.
Libya is currently working on at least 75 big projects valued at more than $63 billion, according to Proleads, which monitors construction projects in the Middle East.
Of the total, the Ghadames oil and gas development project will alone spend US$ 25.9 billion, the research group said.
But the Libyan government has stalled issuing new visas for Bangladeshi workers after the detection of multiple visa forgery cases. Global recession and lower oil revenues have also hurt the Libyan economy, forcing it to almost stall the recruitment process of foreign workers.
"It's a huge market. Deployment of workers should gain further traction," a member of the Bangladesh delegation told the FE.
"It's a crucial talks, which is taking place after a gap of many years. I think it will help us present our case in a stronger way," he said.
An eight-member delegation led by Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khondker Mosharraf Hossain will leave the country for Libya tonight (Monday) on a four-day visit.
Director General of the state-run Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), lawmakers and top leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), the trade group, will accompany the minister.
The minister's visit comes at a time when Bangladesh's overseas employment has slowed to a crawl under pressure from what is called the great recession.
Data released by the BMET show that deployment of Bangladeshi workers almost halved in 2009 after peaking at 875,000 in 2008, while over 72,000 Bangladeshis retuned home in the same year.
In contrast, central bank figures say, the annualised flow of migrants' money - known as remittances - has remained unhurt, growing at a record high of $10.7 billion in 2009.
The amount is 19.39 per cent higher than what the country's 6.0 million-plus overseas class remitted in 2008 calendar year.
"Visa forgery case is a serious issue. We'll explain our position. A group of manpower brokers, not private recruiting agencies, are responsible for the human racketeering," the delegation member said.
Meanwhile officials and manpower industry say some Dubai-based manpower intermediaries are suspected to be involved in sending Bangladeshi workers to Libya via Egypt with false visas.
In addition to meeting his Libyan counterpart, the delegation is scheduled to hold talks with foreign, home, education and health ministers. The minister is also expected to call on the Libyan prime minister.
An official at the overseas employment ministry noted that Bangladesh side would seek to form a joint committee to oversee the rights issue of Bangladeshi workers already working in Libya.
More than 20,000 workers have so far secured employment in Libya since its government reopened its labour market to Bangladeshis, according to the BMET data.
Global recession, worst in generations, has already crimped demand for Bangladeshi workers worldwide, with Malaysia alone cancelling 55,000 work visas for Bangladeshis, biggest by a single receiving country.