Remittance from Kuwait increases substantially

The volume of remittances sent by Bangladeshi workers from oil-rich Kuwait has increased substantially from last month as the Kuwati government has increased the minimum wage of workers to 60 Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) from 40 KD, reports BSS. The wages of the Bangladeshi expatriate workers increased following a negotiation of Bangladesh mission there with the Kuwati authorities. "We are the lone foreign mission here that put pressure on the Kuwaiti government to increase the minimum wage and came out successful in our negotiation," Bangladesh Ambassador to Kuwait Syed Shaheed Reza told the news agency. The Bangladesh ambassador estimated the amount of increase to stand at about Tk 1.0 billion. The Bangladesh ambassador said they are engaged in negotiation with the Kuwaiti government now to remove a ban on recruiting Bangladeshi manpower in Kuwait. The ban was imposed in 2007 fallowing allegation of some Bangladesh workers' involvement in criminal activities there. The Kuwait government is now actively considering the issue and decided to send a delegation to Bangladesh for finalising the modalities of manpower recruitment to check irregularities in the process, Shaheed said. Presently more than 0.2 million Bangladeshi workers are employed in different sectors in Kuwait and remit nearly Tk 5.2 billion a month, according to the Bangladesh Bank data on monthly wage earners' inward remittance flow. In July last, Bangladeshi workers staged demonstrations demanding pay hikes and better working conditions while the Kuwait authorities quelled the demonstrations by arresting and deporting the workers on charges of violation of laws. When the Kuwaiti authority started deporting Bangladeshi workers, the Bangladesh mission intervened and was able to convince the Kuwaiti government about the right cause of the workers, Shaheed said. "You know a large number of our workers are employed in the cleaning sector in Kuwait with a minimum wage of KD 40," he said and added that the workers had to face difficulties in maintaining livelihood and saving at the same time. The Bangladesh ambassador said the country's mission in Kuwait has also helped 30,000 Bangladeshi workers realise their due salaries through strong negotiations with various Kuwaiti organisations. Besides, the mission successfully negotiated with the Kuwaiti government to allow the Bangladeshi workers in transferring their residence of services last year. "As a result, about 40,000 Bangladeshi workers switched their jobs to other organisations with higher salary during the last few months," he said.