Lack of coordination between the Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry and the Foreign Ministry may affect overseas job market and hamper the welfare activities of migrant workers.
The Expat Ministry, which deals with the problems being faced by migrants after setting up labour wings at foreign missions, had recently moved to explore new job markets and expand the welfare activities.
As part of the move, the ministry had decided to set up labour wings in Brunei, Malé, Hong Kong, South Africa, Canberra, Athens, Madrid, Geneva, Moscow, Bangkok, Milan and Egypt. It had also created a total of 101 posts, including 12 labour attaches (senior assistant secretaries).
After completing different procedures, the ministry had created these new posts and posted 12 labour attaches (most of them work as first secretary).
The officials concerned said the labour attaches could not join their work as the Foreign Ministry did not manage diplomatic passports for them and did not make other arrangements.
They said 12 labour attaches were sitting idle at the ministry.
To settle the issue, a meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office on July 10 with the prime minister’s principal secretary in the chair. The meeting took the decision that the two ministries would settle the issue through discussions.
A senior official working at the Expat Ministry said the meeting also decided that the posts created would remain.
On August 4, the Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the Expat Ministry, saying that permission would be required to open new labour wings in Brunei, Malé, Hong Kong, Canberra and South Africa.
It would not be realistic and reasonable to set up labour wings in Madrid, Geneva, Moscow, Milan, Bangkok and Egypt, the letter said.
On August 13, the Expat Ministry sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry and said the ministry did not agree with the Foreign Ministry.
“The Foreign Ministry is not cooperating with us to open new labour wings and give postings of the labour attaches,” Expat Secretary Khondaker Showkat Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.
He claimed that the Foreign Ministry had not taken positive move.
Allama Siddiki, director general (admin) of the Foreign Ministry said, “We have issued a written statement in this regard.”
“We should consider which is reasonable and which is not,” he told this correspondent.
When asked about the ministry’s role in creating posts, he declined to make any comment on the issue.
“There is a close coordination between the two ministries. We cordially work with the Expat Ministry,” he claims.
Bangladesh, one of the major labour exporting countries, send around 400,000 migrants abroad on contractual basis every year. According to the Expat Ministry, nearly 800,000 workers are now working in different countries, including those in the Middle East.
“We have long been advocating to enhance coordination between the two ministries for the sake of migrant workers who remit huge foreign currencies every year,” Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit Chairman Tasneem Siddiqui told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
At the very beginning of creating new posts and opening new labour wings, the two ministries should work closely, she said, adding that the Foreign Ministry might be right in some cases in asking why the labour wings would be opened for nothing.
