Manpower export policy for Iraq framed

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FE Report
The government has framed an exclusive manpower export policy for Iraq as it attempts to put a lid on fraud that characterises Bangladesh's overseas recruitment sector, officials said Saturday.
They said the 16-point policy aims to better protect potential migrant workers and streamline the recruitment industry often blamed for leeching on tens of thousands of Bangladeshis scouring overseas jobs each year.
"The policy was drafted keeping in mind the security risks in Iraq and the potential exploitation by recruiting agencies," an official at the overseas employment ministry said.
"Private recruiting agencies must procure demand letters directly from the Iraqi companies," says the policy.
According to the policy, work permits should have provisions for food, lodging, healthcare services, transport, safety and insurance for the would-be migrant workers.
The employment term for either Iraqi or US companies should be minimum two years with a provision of extension.
Airfare must be borne by employers and the costs should be limited to Tk 52000 but no advance fee is allowed.
Recruiting agencies must notify the Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry and the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) immediately after a worker reaches Iraq and joins in work.
The policy has also made it mandatory for a recruit -ing agency to submit a report to the ministry after the visit of factories or work places in Iraq.
The demand letters of overseas jobs must be attested by the Bangladesh embassy in Iraq, says the policy.
The policy says the migration costs must be "rational" and the charges should not go beyond the official rate fixed for Malaysia, Libya and some other countries.
Bangladesh closed down its embassy in Iraq in 2003 when the United States and its allies launched a full-scale war to dethrone then Iraqi president Saddam Hossein.
Officials at the Bureau of Manpower have estimated that deployment of workers to Iraq could top 300,000 in a few years, as the country requires more workers to serve its construction, cleaning and other service sectors.
The government appointed a new ambassador to Iraq on October 7 to accelerate reopening of the mission.
A government delegation visited Iraq early this year to assess the security situation in the country and recommended resuming manpower export there.
Bureau officials said the middle-eastern nation requires a large workforce for rebuilding its economy, tattered by prolonged war.
Officials said the Iraqi market would help Bangladesh recover from the slide in manpower export, hurt by the global recession.
The worst global recession in a generation has forced wealthier nations to send back foreign workers and Bangladesh was particularly hit as some Arab and Southeast Asian nations deported Bangladeshis.
Official figures say an estimated 45,000 Bangladeshis have returned home since January when the last year's financial crisis exploded into a full-blown global economic crisis.
Some 875,000 Bangladeshis found overseas jobs last year, but officials said that the number could more than halve this year as a result of the global downturn that sapped demand for foreign workers worldwide.