2000 Bangladeshis likely to get jobs in Iraq by this month
Thursday, 10 December 2009
A Z M Anas
Some 2000 Bangladeshis are expected to secure jobs in Iraq by December as the war-tattered Arab nation is courting foreign workers to accelerate its reconstruction efforts, officials said Tuesday.
Officials at the state-run Manpower Bureau said 256 Bangladeshi workers left for Iraq in November, mostly with low-paying cleaning jobs in and around the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
"My agency has processed jobs for 250 workers. I've still demand for 2105," said Md. Nazrul Islam who owns Metro Trade International, a private recruiting firm.
Mr. Islam said other Bangladeshi agencies are also awash with demands for work permits but non-availability of clearance from Iraqi and foreign companies is delaying the process.
Officials said if the present trend continues, more than 2000 people would be able to enter Iraq with jobs by the end of this year.
The news came as nearly 70,000 Bangladeshis saw their employment disappear in the Gulf and Southeast Asia since the onset of global recession.
Agencies said each worker will get US$300 in monthly wages and enjoy free food and lodging by Iraq-based companies.
The government has set Tk. 55,200 for migration costs for Iraq but it is alleged that private recruiting agencies are charging more than four times the officially approved fees.
The head of Metro Trade Intl. declined to say how much he was charging from each potential job seeker.
Overseas Employment Ministry officials said if air fares are borne by the Iraqi or foreign employers, it would be possible to send workers to the oil-rich but still war-ravaged nation at the official rate.
Officials said the government framed a policy considering the security risks in Iraq and the potential fraud of private recruiting agencies, that has plagued Bangladesh's recruiting industry for years.
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. But the present government has appointed an ambassador to Baghdad and is in the middle of reopening the mission there.
Bureau of Manpower officials have estimated that manpower exports to Iraq could top 300,000 in a few years as the country required more workers to serve its construction, cleaning and other service sectors.
A government delegation visited Iraq early this year to assess the security situation in the country and recommended resuming manpower exports there.
Officials said the Iraqi labour market would help Bangladesh partly offset the overseas job crisis it faced in the wake of the global recession, which sagged demand for Bangladeshi workers in the Gulf and Southeast Asian regions.
The global recession in a generation has forced wealthier nations to send back foreign workers and Bangladesh was particularly hit as some Arab nations and a few Southeast Asian economies deported Bangladeshis.
Official figures say 68,000 Bangladeshis returned home since January when the last year's financial crisis exploded into a full-blown economic crisis.
The UN Development Programme said over 90 per cent of Bangladeshi migrant workers employed in Asia and the Gulf region is the source of two-thirds of the country's annualised remittance flow.
Some 8,75,000 Bangladeshis secured overseas placements last year, but that number is set to more than halve this year as a result of the global downturn that sapped the demand for foreign workers globally.
Some 2000 Bangladeshis are expected to secure jobs in Iraq by December as the war-tattered Arab nation is courting foreign workers to accelerate its reconstruction efforts, officials said Tuesday.
Officials at the state-run Manpower Bureau said 256 Bangladeshi workers left for Iraq in November, mostly with low-paying cleaning jobs in and around the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
"My agency has processed jobs for 250 workers. I've still demand for 2105," said Md. Nazrul Islam who owns Metro Trade International, a private recruiting firm.
Mr. Islam said other Bangladeshi agencies are also awash with demands for work permits but non-availability of clearance from Iraqi and foreign companies is delaying the process.
Officials said if the present trend continues, more than 2000 people would be able to enter Iraq with jobs by the end of this year.
The news came as nearly 70,000 Bangladeshis saw their employment disappear in the Gulf and Southeast Asia since the onset of global recession.
Agencies said each worker will get US$300 in monthly wages and enjoy free food and lodging by Iraq-based companies.
The government has set Tk. 55,200 for migration costs for Iraq but it is alleged that private recruiting agencies are charging more than four times the officially approved fees.
The head of Metro Trade Intl. declined to say how much he was charging from each potential job seeker.
Overseas Employment Ministry officials said if air fares are borne by the Iraqi or foreign employers, it would be possible to send workers to the oil-rich but still war-ravaged nation at the official rate.
Officials said the government framed a policy considering the security risks in Iraq and the potential fraud of private recruiting agencies, that has plagued Bangladesh's recruiting industry for years.
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. But the present government has appointed an ambassador to Baghdad and is in the middle of reopening the mission there.
Bureau of Manpower officials have estimated that manpower exports to Iraq could top 300,000 in a few years as the country required more workers to serve its construction, cleaning and other service sectors.
A government delegation visited Iraq early this year to assess the security situation in the country and recommended resuming manpower exports there.
Officials said the Iraqi labour market would help Bangladesh partly offset the overseas job crisis it faced in the wake of the global recession, which sagged demand for Bangladeshi workers in the Gulf and Southeast Asian regions.
The global recession in a generation has forced wealthier nations to send back foreign workers and Bangladesh was particularly hit as some Arab nations and a few Southeast Asian economies deported Bangladeshis.
Official figures say 68,000 Bangladeshis returned home since January when the last year's financial crisis exploded into a full-blown economic crisis.
The UN Development Programme said over 90 per cent of Bangladeshi migrant workers employed in Asia and the Gulf region is the source of two-thirds of the country's annualised remittance flow.
Some 8,75,000 Bangladeshis secured overseas placements last year, but that number is set to more than halve this year as a result of the global downturn that sapped the demand for foreign workers globally.