Senior officials of the foreign and expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministries said a planned high-level visit to South Africa would yield no result.
A six-member delegation led by Expatriate Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain is scheduled to visit South Africa from October 5 to 13, said a government order.
The delegation also includes Expatriate Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan and Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar.
“I don’t think the visit will have any role to play as South Africa is not a labour market,” said a high official of the foreign ministry.
The official was not willing to be quoted as he is not authorised to brief media. He also mentioned that over a quarter (26%) of people are unemployed in South Africa.
Officials said around 60,000 to 70,000 Bangladeshis are staying in South Africa. Of them, several thousand are either temporary or permanent residents. The rest are irregulars who have to renew their political asylum status every three months.
“The law of South Africa is flexible and many people from adjacent countries come here and Bangladeshis also take the opportunity,” Bangladesh High Commissioner to South Africa Md Touhid Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune over phone on Wednesday. “Whenever they face problems, we provide assistance,” he added.
About the possible outcome of the upcoming visit, Expat Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan said: “If we consider the immediate outcome, it would not be proper.”
“If there is a meeting with South Africa authorities concerned, they will treat Bangladeshi migrants fairly,” he said over phone on Wednesday. The government has taken a decision to open a labour wing in South Africa to look after the Bangladeshis.
The delegation is also scheduled to visit neighbouring Botswana, where a number of Bangladeshi doctors and engineers are working.
Touhid Hossain said Bangladeshis are being harassed in Botswana. “The authorities do not renew work permits,” he said, “I would request our minister to hold talks with his counterpart there to ease the situation.”
A government order said the delegation would explore the possibilities of expanding the labour market in South Africa for Bangladeshi workers.