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Her parents tried to protect her vehemently and opposed the very idea of her going to a Middle-East country having heard of the horrific stories of sexual and physical abuse in some of those countries. But her skills as an RMG worker were highly sought after in Jordanian garment factories. Their minds were too preoccupied with trying to protect her. “There is still a stigma surrounding women migrant workers in Bangladesh, people tend to see it very negatively,”Moni said. Nobody in her life thought it was a good idea to go, not even her then boyfriend whom she recently married. But she went anyway. Travelling 5,357km from home with five other women in search of a better life at Hi-Tech Textile in Amman, Jordan for a monthly salary of $155.
Moni travelled 5,357km from home with five other women in search of a better life at Hi-Tech Textile in Amman, Jordan CourtesyOnce in Jordan, Moni and others like her worked eight hours a day from 7am with an hour for lunch break.
The women lived in shared dorm rooms with three meals a day provided by their employer which subsequently helped them save a bulk of their salary to send home: “This helped us save the money we were paid to send home every month,” she said.
But living abroad is not easy, and once home sickness kicks in, it is hard for people to cope which is why many girls left for Bangladesh early, being unable to live without their families.
“The first six months were the hardest, homesickness hit the girls so hard that they cried themselves to sleep some nights,” said Moni.
With the money that she saved, Moni who was only able to finish grade 8 due to financial constraints was able to bear the cost of her brother's engineering diploma for Tk8 lakh.
She was also able to revive her father's decorating business with Tk5 lakh and helped her family slowly become financially solvent.
Moni's father Kazi Nazmul Haq beamed with pride: “I am so proud of my daughter. She has single handedly changed our lives.
“At first, I was obviously uneasy about her leaving, I had heard horror stories about workers abroad, but I will admit I was proven wrong as she is a shining example of what can happen if things are done right.”
Moni made friends with a Bangladeshi shop-owner next to her dorm and soon also got a part-time job there, making a little extra cash on the side, which helped her pay for her own wedding last December.
With a large savings of Tk10 lakh, Moni came back to Bangladesh to marry her almost decade-long boyfriend. And she is taking him back with her to Jordan.
In a rare case of independent spirit, Moni has taken her life into her own hands.
“I have a dream to be successful – build my own home and educate my children in Bangladesh … once I can save up for it, of course,” Moni said.The road to Jordan
Since 2010 Bangladeshi female RMG workers began going to the Kingdom of Jordan as skilled migrant workers. In the six years, roughly 36,093 female migrant workers have gone to Jordanian RMG factories for work. Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), the governing body of migrant workers, have a transparent system that is responsible for sending the workers abroad. The system invites the best companies to visit Bangladesh and recruit workers based on their skills at a skills assessment test. Once they have been selected, the workers get a contract that is overseen by the BOESL ensuring the workers rights. The company will have to provide the air fare, food, housing and medical insurance along with their salary. The migrant workers have to pay Tk17,750 for the services provided by the BOESL, there is no middleman involved in this transaction.
BOESL has been sending Bangladeshi female RMG workers to the Kingdom of Jordan as skilled migrant workers since 2010 CourtesyWhen BOESL first started this programme it struggled finding workers having to advertise on leaflets and distribute them near garment factories, said BOESL officials.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Jordan Mohammad Enayet Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: “Our RMG workers are skilled when they come to this country, so they do not face that kinds of problems that unskilled domestic workers do.”
Lubna Yasmine, first secretary at Bangladesh Embassy in Amman, spoke of the burgeoning industry: “We are very proud that Bangladesh is the main sourcing country of skilled RMG workers for Jordan.
“As BOESL under the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment is the only recruiting agency to send RMG workers to Jordan and the female RMG workers do not need to go through middlemen, the process is very transparent and the female workers get good pay.
“The RMG sector here in Jordan is very organised and the country enjoys duty-free access to the American market which is why they need more RMG workers and this is why Jordan is increasingly looking towards Bangladesh to find skilled labour.
“Also the ILO and trade unions in Jordan monitors the RMG workers condition very closely.”