Policymakers and private sector stakeholders must work together to reduce barriers faced by migrant workers from the start of the immigration process to integration in their countries of employment, experts have said.
Migrant workers from Bangladesh continue to be plagued by a variety of problems, including irregularities in the recruitment process, being left unemployed or unpaid in destination countries, and abuse at the hands of employers, they added.
Experts also stressed the need for raising awareness of illegal migration procedures, and for decentralization of migration service centres in an effort to stop people from falling into the clutches of middlemen.
On the occasion of International Migrants Day, to be observed across the country and the rest of the world today, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) recently organized a discussion and photography exhibition titled “Prottasha: Hope for Migrants.” The aim of the event was to promote safe migration, sustainable reintegration, and migration governance in Dhaka
At the event, migrant workers Ruma Begum and Faruq Ahmed shared their harrowing experiences of being lured by middlemen and forced to return home due to lack of legal documents.
They also discussed their successful reintegration under the Prottasha project facilitated by the Bangladesh government, European Union, and IOM.
Migrant worker situation in Europe
Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, said rvery migrant worker needs to be responsible and aware of the legal process in their destination country, as well as every step of the immigration process.
He also spoke about a government initiative for making skillful manpower under a $15m reintegration mega project being implemented in 25 upazilas across the country.
Under the government initiative, about 100,000 people will be sent to Romania legally next year.
Experience from the last year shows that about 70% of those who were previously sent to Romania fled to other countries in attempts to find higher-paying jobs. Many of them were forced to go back as they did not have valid documents, according to the ministry.
Romania joined the Schengen area in 2013. Many legal procedures are required to enter countries in the area, so entry into Romania or other European countries is not easy, the minister said.
Last year, Romania issued visas to 5,600 people, some of whom received fake visas.
The fake visa and illegal migration issue was recently brought up by the Romanian ambassador to Bangladesh, which is embarrassing, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary (West) Sabbir Ahmad Chowdhury.
“Moreover, there is an agreement with Bangladesh on repatriation of illegal immigrants. So, if someone enters a European country illegally, he must return to the country,” he added.
“Illegal migration is having a negative impact on legal migrants and tarnishing Bangladesh's image, so everyone should be responsible in their activities,” he further said.
Challenges
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) expects to send around 1.5-1.6 million migrant workers this year, with 1.1 million workers having been sent, so far.
Expatriates Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad said fixing a minimum salary for migrant workers would help ensure that their demand letters are accepted and facilitate their finding of work, and the ministry is working in this regard.
He also said strict action would be taken against recruiting agencies that are charging extra fares for medical and other expenses to send workers to Malaysia.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) alleged that some top government officials were colluding with a syndicate of 25 recruiting agencies to capture the entire manpower market to Malaysia, depriving thousands of other recruiting agencies of a level playing field.
Denying the allegations, BMET Director General Shahidul Alam said: "If an agency can legally send workers with job benefits, it would be positive. We are keeping a strict stance against improper recruitment.”
“We have observed that our workers lag behind in terms of skills and use of different languages, which workers, government and private stakeholders must work together to overcome,” the BMET DG added.
Shariful Hasan, head of the BRAC Migration Programme, said although migration organizations play a role in integration, service centers are all Dhaka centric.
“The centres must be decentralized and digitized,” he added.
Amaia Zabala team leader of the governance delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, said: “We need to conduct a campaign to create awareness at the grassroot-level to ensure sustainable reintegration and migration governance.”
She also said the different challenges faced by women in migration should be prioritized to protect their rights abroad.
Shahidul Haque senior policy advisor at IOM, said risk in the recruitment process needs to be reduced before settling the reintegration of returnees.
Fathima Nusrath Ghazali, deputy chief of mission of IOM, said: "We have worked at the individual level under the Prottasha Project, but at the community level there is still a risk to reintegration and legal migration.”