Fate of 2,000 overseas job seekers uncertain
Monday, 3 January 2011
FE Report
Fate of some 2,000 people seeking job in South Korea has become uncertain as the state-run recruiting agency had deleted their names from the list citing expiry of their language test validity.
The deprived job seekers, at a press conference Sunday, made allegations against the authorities of Bangladesh Overseas Employment Services Ltd (BOESL) of corruption, negligence and inefficiency in processing their documents.
They also accused the BOESL top brass of cheating the poor unemployed men who had completed Korean language course to get job in the East Asian country.
The BOESL has declared 5,200 candidates qualified in the 2nd EPS-KLT (Korean Language Test) examination in 2008 of which the names of 493 were deleted from the list in December last year.
"The delete list was published on 19 December 2010 while on 1st November that year the authorities instructed us to urgently submit new passport. The surprising thing is that more than 3,000 quali fied candidates from the 2nd batch were sent to South Korea following due procedure. Even many job seekers from previous 1st and 2nd batches are still getting visa," said Zahid Al Mamun, one of the sufferers.
He said besides the 493 qualified candidates of the delete list, there is no trace of another 700 candidates from the second batch, neither in the delete list nor in the roster.
"Their database is full of mistakes where the same name is listed on both the delete list and the roster. Now the BOESL is shifting onus to the HRD-Korea just to hide their corruption, negligence and inefficiency. They even do not allow us to enter their office and harass us in many ways including threatening of police action against us," said Mr Mamun.
As per an agreement, those who are willing to go to South Korea for jobs must qualify in the language test.
"We qualified in the Korean language tests in early 2008 and went through medical tests," he said.
As per rules, if one year passes after the medical tests, a jobseeker has to undergo the medical tests again to get included in the roster.
After the medical tests, it is the BOESL's responsibility to add the names of the qualifiers in the roster and send it to the Korean authorities.
Regarding the allegations brought against the BOESL, its managing director Muhammad Abdullah said the two years' validity of some of the qualified candidates expired in October and some candidates' names were deleted due to their over age.
"They now have to sit for another EPS-KLT examination to be qualified for going to South Korea. Regarding the allegation over bribe, I can assure you about BOESL's honesty and transparency as we never take money except for Tk 1,180 for the KLT exam of which we keep only US$ 4," Mr Abdullah told the FE.
He said 2,350 workers were sent since he took over charge in May last year adding that only 2200 people were sent during the previous two and half years time.
"Among the 15 Employment Permit System (EPS) countries our position has improved in terms of sending manpower to Korea despite the fact that there's no recruitment from the Korean government but the SMEs. The demand for Bangladeshi workers in the Korean SME sector is poor due to their frequent job changing tendency," he added.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid a three-day official visit to Seoul in May last year which was the first visit by a Bangladeshi premier to South Korea in 15 years.
Recruitment of skilled and semi-skilled manpower figured prominently during the official talks between Hasina and Lee-Myung bak.
The agitating job seekers however threatened of fast-unto-death programme if their crisis is not solved by the authorities concerned within one week.
Fate of some 2,000 people seeking job in South Korea has become uncertain as the state-run recruiting agency had deleted their names from the list citing expiry of their language test validity.
The deprived job seekers, at a press conference Sunday, made allegations against the authorities of Bangladesh Overseas Employment Services Ltd (BOESL) of corruption, negligence and inefficiency in processing their documents.
They also accused the BOESL top brass of cheating the poor unemployed men who had completed Korean language course to get job in the East Asian country.
The BOESL has declared 5,200 candidates qualified in the 2nd EPS-KLT (Korean Language Test) examination in 2008 of which the names of 493 were deleted from the list in December last year.
"The delete list was published on 19 December 2010 while on 1st November that year the authorities instructed us to urgently submit new passport. The surprising thing is that more than 3,000 quali fied candidates from the 2nd batch were sent to South Korea following due procedure. Even many job seekers from previous 1st and 2nd batches are still getting visa," said Zahid Al Mamun, one of the sufferers.
He said besides the 493 qualified candidates of the delete list, there is no trace of another 700 candidates from the second batch, neither in the delete list nor in the roster.
"Their database is full of mistakes where the same name is listed on both the delete list and the roster. Now the BOESL is shifting onus to the HRD-Korea just to hide their corruption, negligence and inefficiency. They even do not allow us to enter their office and harass us in many ways including threatening of police action against us," said Mr Mamun.
As per an agreement, those who are willing to go to South Korea for jobs must qualify in the language test.
"We qualified in the Korean language tests in early 2008 and went through medical tests," he said.
As per rules, if one year passes after the medical tests, a jobseeker has to undergo the medical tests again to get included in the roster.
After the medical tests, it is the BOESL's responsibility to add the names of the qualifiers in the roster and send it to the Korean authorities.
Regarding the allegations brought against the BOESL, its managing director Muhammad Abdullah said the two years' validity of some of the qualified candidates expired in October and some candidates' names were deleted due to their over age.
"They now have to sit for another EPS-KLT examination to be qualified for going to South Korea. Regarding the allegation over bribe, I can assure you about BOESL's honesty and transparency as we never take money except for Tk 1,180 for the KLT exam of which we keep only US$ 4," Mr Abdullah told the FE.
He said 2,350 workers were sent since he took over charge in May last year adding that only 2200 people were sent during the previous two and half years time.
"Among the 15 Employment Permit System (EPS) countries our position has improved in terms of sending manpower to Korea despite the fact that there's no recruitment from the Korean government but the SMEs. The demand for Bangladeshi workers in the Korean SME sector is poor due to their frequent job changing tendency," he added.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid a three-day official visit to Seoul in May last year which was the first visit by a Bangladeshi premier to South Korea in 15 years.
Recruitment of skilled and semi-skilled manpower figured prominently during the official talks between Hasina and Lee-Myung bak.
The agitating job seekers however threatened of fast-unto-death programme if their crisis is not solved by the authorities concerned within one week.