Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury on Thursday said 12 Bangladeshis have so far died in the Middle East conflict, while four Bangladeshi workers sent to Russia under employment contracts have died after reportedly being forced into war-related activities.
The government has repatriated 186 Bangladeshis, including 12 women and eight children, from Iran amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with financial support from the Wage Earners' Welfare Board, he said.
The minister disclosed the information while responding to a question from BNP reserved-seat MP Nilufar Chowdhury Moni during the question-answer session in Parliament.
According to him, five Bangladeshis died in Lebanon, three in Saudi Arabia, two in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Iraq and Bahrain.
Of them, one was buried in the country of death, while the bodies of nine others were brought back to Bangladesh.
Ariful said the families of the deceased whose bodies were repatriated received Tk35,000 each at the airport to cover burial expenses and an additional special grant of Tk50,000.
He said the government has also repatriated Bangladeshi migrant workers from different countries at various times in response to natural disasters and conflict situations.
The minister also informed Parliament that four of the 30 Bangladeshi workers sent to Russia under employment contracts have died after reportedly being forced into war-related activities.
He said the workers were sent to Russia on April 24 through three recruiting agencies after obtaining manpower clearance from Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
After receiving reports that the workers were being compelled to undergo military preparation and sent to the battlefield, the government instructed the Bangladesh Embassy in Moscow on June 15 to take necessary diplomatic steps to rescue and repatriate them, Ariful said.
The government remains hopeful that the remaining workers will be brought back through continued engagement with the Russian authorities, he added.
On labour migration to Malaysia, the minister said Bangladesh and Malaysia held bilateral discussions at the senior official level in April to facilitate the resumption of worker recruitment.
He said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman recently visited Malaysia, while a Malaysian delegation is scheduled to visit Bangladesh later this month, expressing optimism that the process of sending Bangladeshi workers to the country will resume soon.
Ariful also said the government is working to diversify overseas employment markets in view of the instability in the Middle East.
He said initiatives have been taken to reopen the Malaysian labour market and expand employment opportunities in Thailand, South Korea and Japan. The final draft of a worker recruitment agreement has already been sent to the Thai government.
In addition, Bangladeshi missions abroad have been instructed to assess labour demand in their respective host countries and submit specific action plans to increase manpower exports, the minister said.
Replying to another question, he said according to the BMET, a total of 1,09,18,009 Bangladeshis went to various Middle Eastern countries for employment between 2004 and June 30 this year.
However, Ariful said a significant number of them have since returned home, making it impossible to determine the exact number of Bangladeshis currently working in the region due to the absence of a comprehensive database on returnees.
To address the issue, BMET has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Special Branch (SB) of police to facilitate the exchange of information on returning migrant workers, he said.