The government has said recruiting agencies have agreed to finance the return of Bangladeshi workers stranded in Vietnam.
“They [recruiting agencies] have agreed to pay for the return. I think the main problem was that the workers were not getting paid the amount they were promised,” Dr Ahmed Munirush Salehin, secretary to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, told Dhaka Tribune.
According to the government, people can go to Vietnam on tourist visas and receive work permits if their employers recruit them with proper documents.
Dr Salehin said recruiting agencies do not necessarily have to send workers only to countries that have MoU signed with Bangladesh.
On July 2, a group of 27 migrant workers went to the Bangladeshi Embassy in Vietnam and demanded to be sent back home.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Vietnam informed Dhaka Tribune that there were many such groups of migrant workers who demanded to be repatriated, but, refused to pay for their travel.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, Bangladesh Ambassador to Vietnam Samina Naz said currently 47 migrant workers in Vietnam are making the demand and the embassy has been working to settle the matter.
“The migrant workers themselves or their recruiting agencies have to pay for their return travel,” she added.
The pandemic has halted flights in many countries, but the embassy has been trying to bring back the workers through special flights.
“The problem is that they [migrant workers] do not come to us first when they come here for work. They only come to us when they are in deep trouble. That makes our job much more difficult,” Samina Naz added.
Meanwhile, one Bangladeshi expatriate worker told Dhaka Tribune that he was deceived by his broker or agent who promised him a well-paid job in Vietnam.
Shariful returned back to Bangladesh from Vietnam on a special flight on July 3.
He said his broker had promised him a job paying $600 per month. He left his home in Khulna for Vietnam for a better future in January this year.
But, later he realized that the payment was much lower than what he was promised.
“I was paid only $300 dollar at the end of the month, which was half the amount that I was promised,” he told the correspondent.
Shariful said he had to pay around $150 for his accommodation and food per month and soon realized that he will not be able to send money to his family after bearing his living costs in Vietnam.
“About a month ago, I decided to quit the job and come back home because this is not what I was promised,” he added.
Although Shariful said he was never physically abused, he mentioned that his Bangladeshi supervisors in his company were “mean and rude” to him.
Asked why he agreed to go to Vietnam on a tourist visa, he said he does not have much idea about visa types and believed everything his broker told him.
Shariful is now left with a loan of Tk4,50,000 and an uncertain future.
Dhaka Tribune tried to reach Shariful’s broker Nikhil Kumar Mandal, but his phone was found switched off.
Baira Secretary-General Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman told Dhaka Tribune that the situation in Vietnam was not really unique.
“The pandemic has caused too many job cuts and many companies are slashing worker pay in many countries in the world. People who went to Vietnam this year had to deal with the pay cuts and layoffs,” he said, adding that Bangladesh has been sending workers to Vietnam since 2013 and this kind of incident was never reported from any Bangladesh migrant workers from that country.
He also said the recruiting agencies agreed to compensate the workers and pay for their travel.
When asked if the recruiting agencies will be compensating these migrant workers for what they had to spend for the whole process, he said, it is up to the agencies to decide what they will do in this regard.
“They can also manage a job in Bangladesh for the returnees as well,” he said.
On July 9, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three members of a trafficking ring for their alleged involvement in trafficking 38 Bangladeshis to Vietnam.
The Baira general secretary said he has not gone through the case documents yet, but most of the migrant workers he knows have entered Vietnam with BMET (Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training) identification card.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release that the ministry learned from the Vietnam police that they are working with Vietnam companies, who sponsored visas for these people to take responsibility for this group and take them back to Vung Tau City.
The companies also have to give them accommodation, job and facilitate their repatriation when commercial flights resume, the release added.
The release also stated: “The Embassy informed 17 people of the employer’s commitment and assurance of the Government of Vietnam but those 17 people for unknown reasons are not cooperating. They appear determined not to go back to their workplace sticking to their one point demand for immediate return to Bangladesh at government expense.”
