The proverb that "there are two sides to every coin" is known to all of us. The connotation of this adage is becoming clearer for us through the implications associated with tens of thousands of Bangladeshis leaving their homes for a greener pasture abroad where they will get jobs with higher income and greater savings. They also look forward to being able to remit some of that to their family members back home. They want to be part of the Bangladeshi expatriate labour force of more than seven million that are scattered all over the world, particularly in different countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia. They are encouraged to undertake their journeys as many of their relatives have become economic migrants in these countries and also in Europe and North America.
Over the last two decades, their brave contribution to our national economy has grown through their remittances. The latest record revealed in the first week of July this year indicates that during the just completed 2014-15 fiscal year, there was US Dollar 15.31 billion of remittances to Bangladesh. This figure was the highest ever in our history and represented a valuable increase of US Dollar 1.8 billion over the level of the previous financial year.
This was an important achievement, but more so, because it was despite a decline in the number of people leaving the country for employment abroad. Research carried out by a daily as quoted in its editorial of July 04, 2015 stated that "from a peak of 9.8 lakh in FY 2008 through 6.9 lakh in FY 2012, the number of migrants (going abroad for work) "dropped to 4.1-4.2 lakh in FY 2014-15". This equation deserves further attention, because while there has been a steady fall in the numbers going abroad, the country has also had to cope with increasing number of workers returning back to Bangladesh. This dynamics resulted partially due to the effects of political violence in the countries they were working in the Middle East and North Africa or because of the effects of recession that has affected the world economy in the last few years.
Considering the above evolution, one can only surmise that there has been an increase in remittance because of a better, efficient and regulated handling of remittances from different sources. It also suggests that the migrant workforce is beginning to use more formal channels than the previous "Hundi" format to repatriate their savings to Bangladesh. One must in this context note that the fine-tuning of the banking arrangement initiated by the Bangladesh Bank has worked as an important catalytic factor in our workers switching from the previous informal channels to formal ones.
This process has also gained acceptance because the delivery channel of inward remittances to the beneficiary has improved due to the ever expanding use of mobile banking by commercial banks and their facilitation measures. Another reason for higher remittance flow has been the stable US Dollar-Taka exchange rate. Commenting on this increase, the Bangladesh Bank has pointed out that it, as part of the moves, is allowing local banks to establish exchange houses and drawing arrangement abroad to assist the inflow of remittances.
Analysts are now hoping that the flow of inward remittances will increase further in the coming months when manpower export to Malaysia re-starts through private sector channels and labour recruitment resumes in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It would be fitting to note here that the discussions carried out by Prime Minister Hasina in Saudi Arabia in February this year has already resulted in the lifting of the ban on change of Iqamas (work permits) for expatriates from Bangladesh searching for jobs in that country.
Bangladesh today, as a result of these developments has become a low middle-income country, has foreign exchange reserves over US Dollar 25 billion and has moved upwards to become the eighth largest recipient of remittances in the world.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: Nevertheless, there is the other side of the coin - the horrible aspects that have surfaced over the last two months associated with human trafficking.
The world media has highlighted how thousands of poverty-stricken people, tempted by criminal middle-men, have undertaken perilous voyages in ramshackle boats, trying to enter Thailand and Malaysia as illegal immigrants. It has been painful to watch the plight of these trafficking victims in the electronic media, their dreams shattered, being rescued from savage detention camps hidden in the coastal jungles bordering the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. Apparently, such human trafficking grew in dimension over the last three years and targeted Muslim Rohingyas and their family members trying to escape the harsh discriminatory living conditions in their country, Myanmar and also Bangladeshis attempting to illegally enter Thailand and Malaysia.
These middle-men criminals in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia appear to have perpetrated human rights violations and nefarious activities basking in the shelter of corrupt politicians and law-enforcement personnel. It would be fitting to note here that senior law-enforcement personnel, local government officials and corrupt politicians involved in such matters in Thailand and Malaysia have been relieved of their duties and taken into judicial custody.
Regretfully this has not happened in Bangladesh. A local daily has commented that "local representatives have benefitted from the illegal trade. Some have invested financially in human smuggling and trafficking operations". It has also been pointed out that such "traffickers and people smuggling brokers provide manpower and funding for election campaigns".
It has been reported that the scenario with regard to Malaysia may be on the mend. First came the news on June 27 in 'The Bernama', a state-owned newspaper in Malaysia, that the Malaysian government, according to Malaysian Home Minister Zahid Hamidi, is likely to launch a special drive against illegal foreign workers working in that country. It was subsequently reported that after this effort, there would be a move to recruit 500,000 low-skilled migrant workers from Bangladesh. This would be done under an agreement called Business-to-Business (B2B) mechanism that will use private recruitment/employment agencies. Experts think that this might reduce illegal human trafficking from Bangladesh to Malaysia. This will be a departure from the earlier agreed Government-to-Government (G2G) process. Analysts think that the association of the private sector in both countries will assist the process. We have to wait and see.
DEVELOPMENT OF SEMI-SKILLED AND SKILLED WORKFORCE: Nevertheless, serious attention should be given to the development of semi-skilled and skilled workforce. We have to move forward as Philippines, India and Sri Lanka have done. This will be possible only if we take the right steps to improve not only quality in our educational system but also associated skills. Skill development initiatives and vocational training need to be introduced from the secondary stage in the schools.
In this context it is encouraging to note that Prime Minister Hasina during her recent discussion in Dhaka with Yanagisawa Kyoei, the President of International Manpower Development of Japan, underlined the need for bilateral cooperation between the two countries in developing the skill factor in Bangladeshi youth. It was reiterated that development of skills would also foster the prospect of entrepreneurship among the Bangladeshis. It is understood that 1,000 Bangladeshi technical interns will receive training in Japan under the apprenticeship programme. They will each be given a financial scholarship during their training tenure. It has been hinted that the technical interns who successfully complete their three-year participation in the training programme will receive resources for setting up business ventures after they return to Bangladesh. One must not forget the multiplier effect of such assistance.
It would be appropriate at this point to recall some of the data recently disclosed by the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). Compared to 2005, the percentage in the number of skilled manpower going abroad has fallen to 36 per cent from 45 per cent in 2014. In percentage terms, the number of professionals was 1.0 per cent of the exported manpower in 2005. This fell to 0.4 per cent in 2014. The rate of semi-skilled manpower, however, increased by 3.0 per cent to 47 per cent in 2014 compared to 44 per cent in 2005.
It is clear that the migration potential of Bangladesh will continue to grow. Economists have termed this as normal, given the fact that a transfer is slowly taking place within our rural hinterland where farmlands with low productivity agriculture are moving towards higher productivity industry.
However, this evolving dynamics, which took place also in Philippines, India and in Sri Lanka were taken advantage of, by those countries. Their authorities addressed this evolving scenario and invested in development of skilled manpower. This is now paying dividends for them.
We also need to focus and see how citizens from those countries have subsequently made inroads, especially in the construction, health, banking, management and services sectors. They appear to have succeeded because they initiated programmes to impart skill training at the grassroots level. We also have to diversify in a constructive manner and make inroads in the semi-skilled and skilled sectors.
Having spent nearly nine years in the Middle East, I am convinced that low-skilled jobs will always be available but vocational training in electrical repairs, para-medical assistance, plumbing and accounting will help us to break through the glass ceiling. This should be undertaken irrespective of gender. We also need to learn foreign languages — English, Arabic, Malaysian, Korean and Japanese. This additional factor will make all the difference. It also has to be a collective effort.
If we can follow this constructive path in the development of our human resources, we can then avoid shattered dreams that result from relying on criminals who make fortunes through human trafficking.
The writer, a former Ambassador, is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information
and good governance.
muhammadzamir0@gmail.com
Remittance growth through development of human resources
Muhammad Zamir | Published: July 21, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: July 20, 2015 18:21:07
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