The government has urged Probashi Kallyan Bank to waive the bank loan of the 15 female migrant workers who returned home after losing jobs in Hong Kong several months back.
The Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry requested the bank to look into the problems of those female migrants and waive the bank loan, a senior official of the ministry said seeking anonymity.
“We are investigating why the migrants returned home, and if we waive the loan, the bank will not survive,” the bank’s Managing Director Koyes Sami told the Dhaka Tribune.
“We cannot waive the principal amount, but we can facilitate the repayment of loan by easy installment,” Sami added.
The ministry official, however, said the bank authority was reserved as the message of loan waiver might encourage other migrants to use the opportunity.
After being terminated from jobs and facing various types of harassment in Hong Kong the 15 female returnees lodged complaints with the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.
They also demanded that their bank loan be waived and compensation paid.
Each female migrant took a loan of Tk120,000-Tk140,000 from Probashi Kallyan Bank before they flew to Hong Kong. They were supposed to repay the loan by installments from their monthly wages.
BMET sources said a total of 427 Bangladeshi women went to Hong Kong to work as housemaids.