Threatened manpower export
Saturday, 8 March 2008
THE country's foreign currency reserve has crossed the $6.0 billion mark for the first time recently. This is one of the few optimistic sides to the Bangladesh economy. The growing reserve is helping no doubt to cushion the country from many adverse externalities such as the soaring import prices of essential commodities. But the reserve could come under a threat from a squeeze in the flow of workers' remittances from certain developments, now showing up, if these are not addressed promptly with the seriousness the same deserve. According to a report last Tuesday, four thousand Bangladeshi workers have been arrested at Qatar. Out of them several hundreds are likely to be sent back to Bangladesh on allegations of working illegally. In the recent past, such expulsion of Bangladeshi workers was noted from Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. The situation concerning our workers in Saudi Arabia, the single largest source of remittance earnings of Bangladesh, has lately worsened, according to reports in the media. In this backdrop, if the expulsion of Bangladeshi workers from major manpower-importing countries turns into a growing trend and unless it is checked now with appropriate policies, then bad times could descend sooner rather than later on the burgeoning manpower export trade which in turn, would create very serious stresses on the country's macro economy. Thus, it is imperative to take swift actions at different levels to guard against the expulsion of workers.
The main accusation against the expelled workers usually is that they work illegally. But the victims say in most cases that they came to work with valid visas and work permits but drifted away to other work places when their employing organisations flouted the terms of their contract and started paying them partly or none at all in some extreme cases. Thus, they were hauled up by the police for not working in the organisations where they should be working and leaving their passports with them. However, observers say that the police in the Gulf countries and in Saudi Arabia where the greatest number of Bangladeshi workers are concentrated, seem to be more lenient towards workers of Egyptian and other origin. Besides, the foreign missions of these countries are also proactive to protect the interests of their workers which is a big factor helping them to avoid such exploitation and harassment.
Therefore, the first task in order to be taken up by our missions in the host countries, is doing their job efficiently in respect of the representational needs of our workers. If the mission staff take up the cases of violation of agreements by the contracting companies and put pressure on them in every way to respect their terms of contract, then many cases of workers drifting to other jobs can automatically come to an end. Likewise, problems concerning the arrested workers on some perceived grounds of their offences of varied nature, can be also sorted out and resolved, if our missions in those countries truly do their work comprehensively with dedication and care. At home, the activities of the manpower exporters can be watched over to ensure that they send out the workers to overseas employers with proper credentials.
It is also suspected and not without basis that the sudden crackdown on Bangladeshi workers could have a relationship to interest groups in competing countries influencing the authorities in the manpower importing countries, to only selectively engage in a hostile campaign against Bangladeshi workers. This is borne out by the glaring cases of omissions of legal requirements by the workers of those countries whereas even minor neglect by Bangladeshi workers are dealt with, too severely. These angles need to be quickly investigated and taken up for discussion with the governments of the manpower importing countries for the mitigation of the woes of our workers.
Some of such manpower-importing countries have started long-term construction projects that have created a bonanza for migrant workers of countries such as Bangladesh. Tapping of these lucrative opportunities by Bangladesh calls for immediate streamlining of its manpower export-related policies and strategies.
The main accusation against the expelled workers usually is that they work illegally. But the victims say in most cases that they came to work with valid visas and work permits but drifted away to other work places when their employing organisations flouted the terms of their contract and started paying them partly or none at all in some extreme cases. Thus, they were hauled up by the police for not working in the organisations where they should be working and leaving their passports with them. However, observers say that the police in the Gulf countries and in Saudi Arabia where the greatest number of Bangladeshi workers are concentrated, seem to be more lenient towards workers of Egyptian and other origin. Besides, the foreign missions of these countries are also proactive to protect the interests of their workers which is a big factor helping them to avoid such exploitation and harassment.
Therefore, the first task in order to be taken up by our missions in the host countries, is doing their job efficiently in respect of the representational needs of our workers. If the mission staff take up the cases of violation of agreements by the contracting companies and put pressure on them in every way to respect their terms of contract, then many cases of workers drifting to other jobs can automatically come to an end. Likewise, problems concerning the arrested workers on some perceived grounds of their offences of varied nature, can be also sorted out and resolved, if our missions in those countries truly do their work comprehensively with dedication and care. At home, the activities of the manpower exporters can be watched over to ensure that they send out the workers to overseas employers with proper credentials.
It is also suspected and not without basis that the sudden crackdown on Bangladeshi workers could have a relationship to interest groups in competing countries influencing the authorities in the manpower importing countries, to only selectively engage in a hostile campaign against Bangladeshi workers. This is borne out by the glaring cases of omissions of legal requirements by the workers of those countries whereas even minor neglect by Bangladeshi workers are dealt with, too severely. These angles need to be quickly investigated and taken up for discussion with the governments of the manpower importing countries for the mitigation of the woes of our workers.
Some of such manpower-importing countries have started long-term construction projects that have created a bonanza for migrant workers of countries such as Bangladesh. Tapping of these lucrative opportunities by Bangladesh calls for immediate streamlining of its manpower export-related policies and strategies.