The Expatriates Welfare Ministry’s move to create 101 more labour counsellor posts in different foreign missions may prove to be counterproductive for Bangladesh, the foreign ministry has warned.
The ministry came up with the observation since the host countries are evicting foreign workers and illegal migrants for economic slowdown and higher unemployment rates.
In 2012, the Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry initiated the move to create 101 posts in some countries such as Greece, Spain, Russia, South Africa, Australia and Switzerland, apparently in an effort to protect the rights of Bangladeshi workers.
Most of these countries are either plagued with economic slowdown or anti-migrant sentiment. The number of Bangladeshi workers there is very low.
For instance, South Africa will not accept Bangladeshi workers as unemployment rate there is at 27%, says the Foreign Ministry.
The ministry alleged that the posts were created in violation of the government’s Rules of Business that stipulate getting prior clearance from the foreign ministry.
Again, Australia and Switzerland are not labour importing countries.
The Expatriates’ Welfare Ministry told the Foreign Ministry that the posts were created in the face of the people’s demands and upon clearance from the Public Administration and the Finance Ministries.
On May 26 the officials of the two ministries had a joint meeting to get their differences of opinion sorted out with Foreign Secretary (bilateral, training and consular) Mustafa Kamal in the chair.
An Additional Secretary Jahangir Alam and some of his colleagues represented the Expatriates’ Welfare Ministry at the meeting, which was also attended by Director General of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Shamsun Nahar.
“Due to economic slowdown and other reasons, countries such as Spain and Greece are sending back Bangladeshis. There is no chance of exporting manpower to Russia which faces Muslim separatism in its southern portion,” Mustafa Kamal told the meeting.
He said the Bangladesh Ambassador SM Saiful Hoque, not a career diplomat, in Moscow had opposed the creation of a labour wing there.
“The opening of the labour wing in Switzerland and Australia will send a wrong message, ultimately affecting the bilateral ties with them,” said Mustafa adding that the European countries would even maintain reservations about visas to Bangladeshis.
Jahangir Alam told the meeting: “As the posts have already been created we should not talk more on this issue. In future, we will consult the Foreign Ministry regarding commissioning such new posts.”
On July 5, 2012, Shamsun Nahar, an additional secretary of the Public Administration Ministry, suggested that the Expatriates’ Welfare Ministry should seek the opinion of the Foreign Ministry, which was the authority on creating any post in the foreign missions.
“But the foreign ministry’s opinion was not sought,” she said, reading the minutes of the meeting.
She said the posts to be created were subject to the approval of the foreign ministry.
Out of a total of 69 missions of various types, Bangladesh maintains labour wings in 16 missions, mainly the Middle Eastern countries, since Dhaka’s relations there are mainly focused on labour export.
For instance, over 22 lakh Bangladeshis work or live in Saudi Arabia, where Bangladesh tops among the workforce suppliers there.
Expatriates’ Welfare Ministry officials say they will initiate the move to create the posts of drivers for the labour counsellors, who will get a full-time vehicles.
