A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on labour recruitment between Bangladesh and Iraq was signed in Dhaka Saturday.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment minister of Bangladesh Khandker Mosharraf Hossain and Labour and Social Affairs Minister of Iraq Nassar Al-Rubaiee singed the MoU on behalf of their respective countries at the ministry.
According to the MoU, a demand of 1,000 workers will be placed for recruitment initially.
At a joint press conference, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said through this MoU, labour migration from Bangladesh to Iraq would start afresh.
He said on September 8, a selection team from Iraq would arrive in Bangladesh to place demand for 1,000 workers.
Iraqi labour minister Nassar Al-Rubaiee said Iraq prefers to recruit workers from Bangladesh through transparent manner and the workers would be able to travel with little cost.
However, he said the migration cost would be fixed through discussion.
In reply to a query on security issue, he said the Iraqi government would protect the workers and compensate them if any unwanted situation occurs under the Labour Act of 1962.
Iraqi government will recruit workers from Bangladesh as per its requirement. The migration cost would go much lower if the Dhaka-Baghdad direct flight goes into operation.
When asked if the private recruiting agencies can migrate workers alongside government, Khandker Mosharraf said: “If the private recruiting agencies can send workers at a migration cost of Tk32, 000 per person, which we do in case of migrating workers to Malaysia, we have no problem.”
1.4 million people registered as interested candidates for migration so far. The workers will be selected from the government database.
A nine-member Iraqi delegation will watch over the migration processes and will visit the Technical Training Centres and District Employment and Manpower Offices in Bangladesh before leaving on September 3.
According to the statistics of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) 3,293 workers migrated to Iraq between 2009 and 2012.
Expatriates’ Welfare Secretary Dr Zafar Ahmad Khan and BMET Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar were, among others, present at the signing ceremony.
