Beirut blast imperils BD migrant workers

FE Team | Published: August 22, 2020 21:05:17

The massive explosion that rocked Beirut and destroyed much of the Lebanese capital's port last week threatens to have disastrous consequences for the roughly 1.5 million, reports bdnews24.com.
Neela Shikder from Gazipur travelled to Lebanon, where her parents reside, in search of a job after a divorce with her husband in 2016.
They were spending the days well there. Neela was working as a housemaid and sending money to her parents in Bangladesh when they returned home in 2018.
But an economic slowdown coupled with unbridled inflation that began devaluing Lebanese lira in September 2019 put her in a fix.
Joblessness added to her woes when the country imposed a lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year. She was on her savings at the time.
Finally, the massive blast at Beirut port earlier in August triggered huge protests leading the government of the country to resign, plunging it into a political crisis.
"My woes began when my parents left. Now I am in huge trouble. It is difficult for me to get three meals a day. I am passing my days in agony," a sobbing Neela told the news agency.
Most of the Bangladeshi migrant workers in Lebanon are in the same condition as Neela's.
Nearly 7,500 Bangladeshis have registered their names at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Beirut to return home, which they consider the only option now, but no flight is in sight as some travel restrictions over the pandemic continue.
Most of the male Bangladeshis in Lebanon are cleaning workers while the women work as domestic help.
Neela said she had no worries even though she was not familiar with the streets in Lebanon when her parents were there.
"Now I must take another person with me for safety even if I need to visit the embassy," she said.
Due to the inflation, it now takes at least 20,000 Lebanese liras to travel to the embassy from where Neela stays now. "Where will I get the money?" she asked.
"Bangladeshi uncles [countrymen] here help me now," she said.
Neela now stays six days of a week in a Bangladeshi man's place in Jbeil, but has to go to another man's home when the first man returns after six days of work.
Everyone is in peril, she said. They are paying 150,000 Lebanese liras for a sack of 25kg rice. The price had been 22,000 Lebanese liras earlier.
She had earned up to $5 per hour when she had a job. "The picture has changed. Now I have only one wish - to return home, but I am unable to find a way back."
A total of 167,565 Bangladeshi migrant workers have travelled to Lebanon since 1991, when the first batch of 25 Bangladeshis left, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.
There is no official data on how many Bangladeshis are still in Lebanon. The government estimates the number is more than 150,000, many of whom have become undocumented.