The cabinet Monday nodded the Overseas Employment and Migrant Workers Bill 2013 in a bid to contain migration fraud by keeping provision for up to 10 years in prison and a Tk500,000 fine for violations of immigration laws.
Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told journalists in a briefing that the meeting led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had approved the proposed law to ensure transparency and accountability of recruiting agencies and preserve the rights and interests of migrant workers. He added that the new law would replace the existing Immigration Ordinance 1982 to check forgery, deception and illegal practices in the recruitment process. The ordinance only had punitive provision of a year in prison and up to Tk5,000 in fines.
Under the new bill, offenders would face up to a seven year prison term and be fined up to Tk300,000 for forging migration documents including demand letters, visas and work permits. In case of falsely advertising for recruitment, the bill proposes the same punitive measures. The proposed law also allows victims to take recruitment agencies to court over such fraudulent activities.
The cabinet also approved a work plan calling to adopt short, medium and long term plans to alleviate the country out of the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by 2021. The decision came based on the Istanbul Programme of Action adopted in the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs.
Mosharraf said Bangladesh’s per capita income is currently $923 and needs to reach $1,190 to change its status.