Romania stops hiring Bangladeshi workers thru' manpower agents
Saturday, 6 June 2009
A Z M Anas
Bangladesh's drive to expand overseas job markets to Eastern Europe suffered a major jolt as Romania stopped hiring Bangladeshi workers through private companies, private recruiters said.
Over 1200 Bangladeshis found jobs in Romania's apparel and construction sectors last year, but officials said majority of them sneaked into wealthier nations of the 27-member European Union.
But a top overseas employment official said the government is yet to receive such an order from Bucharest.
"Bangladeshis use Romania as a transit point to vanish into Europe," said Mujibur Rahman, owner of Al-Abbas International, a private recruiter.
"Greece and Italy are their popular destinations," he added.
The Romanian move is feared to frustrate Bangladesh's drive to search for new job markets in those nations, relatively unhurt by the worst global recession in decades.
It also comes at a time when Bangladesh's traditional employment markets threaten to founder, stung by the crisis.
Bangladesh's overseas job markets remain extremely limited, with the majority of workers going to the oil-rich Middle Eastern countries and Southeast Asia's Singapore and Malaysia.
Together, these markets absorbed more than 95 per cent of the country's overseas labour force last year.
But the global crisis has forced these nations to put on hold multi-billion-dollar construction projects, sapping demand for foreign workers.
"If Bangladeshi workers' propensity to illegally cross the Romanian border, it will be difficult to search for new markets," said Mr Rahman, whose agency started sending workers to Romania last year.
Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Elias Ahmed said he is expected to fly to Romania this month to sign an agreement to bring the process into a framework.
Officials said Romania can employ as many as 100,000 workers in its agriculture, garments and construction sectors.
The Eastern European nation is now facing an increasing shortage of workers as natives move wealthier EU member nations for higher salaries.
Bangladesh Association of Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) voiced its frustration over the move and urged the Romanian government to reconsider its decision.
"It can't be the right way," said Ghulam Mustafa, president of BAIRA, the industry lobby.
He said that banning private agencies would not solve the problem.
"Problems are there. And those need to be resolved in a proper way."
Mr Ahmed said that the government was trying to facilitate manpower exports by private recruiters by establishing a legal framework based on diplomatic relations.
Last year 1200-plus Bangladeshi workers found jobs in Romania, sent by three private recruiting agencies, according to figures available with the state-run Manpower Bureau.
In addition to Romania, officials said, other Eastern European nations such as Poland are increasingly recruiting Bangladeshi workers.
Officials said that the demand for pipe and gas welders was on the rise in Poland, the biggest contributor to the Eastern Europe's welding market.
The state-run Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESEL) said the Polish companies have stepped up recruiting Bangladeshi workers.
Affected by the global crisis, Bangladesh's traditional markets such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Malaysia have accelerated retrenching foreign workers.
Malaysia has already cancelled 55000 visas for potential Bangladeshi job-aspirants.
Bangladesh's drive to expand overseas job markets to Eastern Europe suffered a major jolt as Romania stopped hiring Bangladeshi workers through private companies, private recruiters said.
Over 1200 Bangladeshis found jobs in Romania's apparel and construction sectors last year, but officials said majority of them sneaked into wealthier nations of the 27-member European Union.
But a top overseas employment official said the government is yet to receive such an order from Bucharest.
"Bangladeshis use Romania as a transit point to vanish into Europe," said Mujibur Rahman, owner of Al-Abbas International, a private recruiter.
"Greece and Italy are their popular destinations," he added.
The Romanian move is feared to frustrate Bangladesh's drive to search for new job markets in those nations, relatively unhurt by the worst global recession in decades.
It also comes at a time when Bangladesh's traditional employment markets threaten to founder, stung by the crisis.
Bangladesh's overseas job markets remain extremely limited, with the majority of workers going to the oil-rich Middle Eastern countries and Southeast Asia's Singapore and Malaysia.
Together, these markets absorbed more than 95 per cent of the country's overseas labour force last year.
But the global crisis has forced these nations to put on hold multi-billion-dollar construction projects, sapping demand for foreign workers.
"If Bangladeshi workers' propensity to illegally cross the Romanian border, it will be difficult to search for new markets," said Mr Rahman, whose agency started sending workers to Romania last year.
Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Elias Ahmed said he is expected to fly to Romania this month to sign an agreement to bring the process into a framework.
Officials said Romania can employ as many as 100,000 workers in its agriculture, garments and construction sectors.
The Eastern European nation is now facing an increasing shortage of workers as natives move wealthier EU member nations for higher salaries.
Bangladesh Association of Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) voiced its frustration over the move and urged the Romanian government to reconsider its decision.
"It can't be the right way," said Ghulam Mustafa, president of BAIRA, the industry lobby.
He said that banning private agencies would not solve the problem.
"Problems are there. And those need to be resolved in a proper way."
Mr Ahmed said that the government was trying to facilitate manpower exports by private recruiters by establishing a legal framework based on diplomatic relations.
Last year 1200-plus Bangladeshi workers found jobs in Romania, sent by three private recruiting agencies, according to figures available with the state-run Manpower Bureau.
In addition to Romania, officials said, other Eastern European nations such as Poland are increasingly recruiting Bangladeshi workers.
Officials said that the demand for pipe and gas welders was on the rise in Poland, the biggest contributor to the Eastern Europe's welding market.
The state-run Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESEL) said the Polish companies have stepped up recruiting Bangladeshi workers.
Affected by the global crisis, Bangladesh's traditional markets such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Malaysia have accelerated retrenching foreign workers.
Malaysia has already cancelled 55000 visas for potential Bangladeshi job-aspirants.