\\\'Rescue of BD workers abroad won\\\'t affect overseas job market\\\'

The rescue of Bangladeshi nationals abroad is unlikely to affect the country’s overseas job market, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has said. In the last one week, Thai authorities rescued scores of Bangladeshis from forests near tourist resort of Phuket and other areas in Thailand where they were allegedly forced to work in inhuman condition in rubber plants and different other risky jobs by their employers. Besides, in separate incidents several hundred Bangladeshis were detained from Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Bangladesh’s territorial waters in Bay of Bengal in the last several months while going to Thailand and Malaysia through illegal channels. Talking to the reporters in the city on Monday afternoon, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said these incidents will not affect Bangladesh’s overseas labour market, including in the Middle East and any other country, as every Bangladeshi worker is now being sent abroad after registering their names and having police verification reports. However, he said these incidents have tarnished Bangladesh’s image. ‘But labour market in the Middle East and elsewhere will not be affected by these incidents,’ he affirmed. Asked why people go aboard through illegal channels, the minister wondered why people choose illegal paths when they have available options to go abroad at low cost for jobs. He said the government has preparations to send manpower to any country immediately whenever a formal demand is placed, according to UNB.