Remittance earned by our expatriate workers abroad comprise the second largest source of foreign income in Bangladesh.
However, the primary destination for our expat workers, thus far, has predominantly been Gulf nations with incredibly problematic track records when it comes to human rights, let alone worker rights, as anecdotes of worker abuse and even torture are all too common from those who have come back from such places.
It is nothing short of heartening to know, then, that more and more of our workers are now finding their way into less traditional destinations such as South Korea, which recruited over 9,000 Bangladeshis between January of last year and June this year through official channels.
In light of the increasing demand for Bangladeshi workers and subsequent employment opportunities in South Korea, the government and our diplomacy wing would do well to take measures to upskill more of our workers in order to have a more qualified expat worker base to send abroad -- the export of skilled labour has been a strong pillar in the establishment of our bilateral ties with South Korea, and it is high time we started expanding that base to include more nations.
However, and this bears repeating as many times as possible, the government must ensure that worker safety is placed at the forefront regardless of where our migrant workers are headed. It stands to reason that the hard working men and women breaking their backs over the continuous development of their homeland would require all the help they can get from their own government for their safety, something which has not been a given if the often arduous conditions that they have had to face in the Gulf nations are anything to go by.
Bangladesh owes far too much to the brave souls who choose to live away from their friends and families all for the sake of their own nation; the least that their nation can do for them is to look out for their safety.
