Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (EWOE) Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has warned of taking tough actions against people involved in illegal migration-related activities.
He also sought necessary cooperation from manpower recruiters of private sector in this respect.
"The government is committed to bring the dishonest recruiters and middlemen to justice. The private recruiting agencies have an effective role in identifying those culprits."
He said they will urge Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) to identify the unscrupulous middlemen to help the government stop illegal migration.
The minister said these while presiding over a programme on the occasion of World Migration Day 2014 at the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) on Thursday.
Expressing concern over illegal migration he said presently the job-seekers are going to Malaysia by sea, and being trapped by the dishonest middlemen. Besides, they are going to the country with student and tourist visas.
Such uneven practices are creating complications in regular migration process, and Bangladesh is now at a risk of losing the Malaysian market again.
The minister said for ensuring security of the migrants the government has enacted a law. It has also taken various programmes and campaigns to make the overseas job-seekers aware of safe migration.
He urged the private recruiters not to engage in visa trading, and said the workers will get chance to go abroad at a low cost after it is stopped.
"Through G-to-G migration process we have proved that manpower export is possible at only Tk 27,000 for each worker."
Khandker Mosharraf Hossain also emphasized reducing remittance sending expenses.
He noted that Bangladesh will attain the middle-income country status before the targeted period with continuation of the present remittance inflow.
Migrants sent home US$ 61.90 billion between fiscal years 2008-09 and 2012-13, and the importance of remittance has been gradually increasing in the country's economy, he mentioned.
Following shrinking of the Middle-East market for Bangladeshis, the government has taken a plan to explore new markets, including the European ones.
The country is expected to send abroad 0.6 to 0.7 million workers a year in near future, following lessening of the impact of world recession. For this the government has taken a project for setting up more training institutes to supply skilled workers as per demand.
The minister said the government has formed a Tk 1.40 billion fund for skill development programmes.
"Around 9.0 million Bangladeshis are working in different sectors in 160 countries. Around 2.45 million workers went abroad with job from 2009 to 2013," he added.
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