Words fail to express the absolute shock we feel upon learning that our fellow Bangladeshis, our very own migrant workers, were shot for peacefully demonstrating for unpaid wages on a strawberry plantation in Greece. This is outrageous. Indeed, it is far beyond comprehension that an employer would rather take up a gun and seek to maim, if not kill, his or her workers, than pay them their dues. This can’t go on. We must protect our migrant workers as they are the backbone of our nation and economy. We owe them at least that much, if not far more. These workers toil away in virtual slave labour conditions for dreadful wages, and often, as this situation blatantly reveals, they receive horrific treatment at the hands of their employers. It is nowhere near enough for the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment to merely provide Bangladeshi migrant workers with employment opportunities, and then leave them to the wolves, to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers and abused. A policy must be implemented to protect them and ensure that the employers who hire them are trustworthy, would grant them fair wages and good working conditions, and are called to account if they do not. This latest incident is a shockwave that should jar the ministry into immediate action; in this case, the implementation of such a policy should be its first priority. Our migrant workers must be kept safe and be taken care of so as to prevent disgraceful incidents such as this shooting from occurring again. Their survival as well as that of our nation is at stake.
Saturday, June 14, 2025
