Seven years ago, Nuru (pseudonym) was deceived by a dalal (an agent) who had acquired a good amount of money from him with the promise of a wholesome salary job in Malaysia. As the dalal failed, Nuru sought the justice from the village court.
But his voice remained unheard since the perpetrator did not show up. Afraid of the local authority of the dalal, Nuru did not even go to the police.
Among the 500,000 workers who go abroad every year, the story is common with the 51% of the migrant workers who experience fraud. Weaving the dream of uplifting their condition, the workers aspire to migrate. But these naïve dreamers are cheated by dalals who have gained immunity against accountability for their vicious treachery.
The migration process of these workers relies heavily on dalals due to the workers’ or their family members’ lack of access to information. These agents do not miss out on exploiting this opportunity. They lure the aspirant workers with glorified assurances and bag double or triple the amount of money than the actual expense of sending a worker. More often than not, they fail to keep their promises and do not even return the money after breaching the deal.
Some even borrow money or take loans to pay for the expense of migration. Outwitted by the mischievous agents, the victims are left helpless with the added burden of repaying the money. The Overseas Employment and Migration Act, 2013 was enacted to ensure a safe and just migration governance system which indeed was a major development. But, the in-theory-law has been unable to merge with the reality in the last five years.
There have been very few prosecutions under the law against the fraudulent dalals since the workers neither have proper knowledge on law and their rights nor do they possess any legal documents of their contract with the dalal. Their poor financial status does not allow them to bear the cost of litigation. Intimidation by the agents remains another problem.
In this regard, mediation can play a change making contribution to ensure the rights of the victims. A glaring example can be the work of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) that has been quite successful in implementing the Overseas Employment and Migration Act, 2013 by ascertaining legal aid for the victims as postulated in the law and also by laudably resolving the disputes in a short span of time.
According to a survey by RMMRU conducted on 5,407 households in nine villages of Pakoria and 11 wards of Elenga in Tangail, about 40% of the households attempted to send their family members abroad for work and more than a thousand families faced deception at different stages.
Through mediation, RMMRU has solved 34 cases out of 80 disputes from May 2017 to August 2018 in that area and effectively returned more than Tk21 million to the victims.
Compared to mainstream litigation, mediation saves money, solves a case faster, and satisfies both the parties. To that end, it can be introduced and popularized more. The NGO-based mediation can be feasible to materialize the spirit of the Overseas Employment and Migration Act, 2013 in the rural areas.
The victims are also enthusiastic in mitigating their disputes through mediation since it is time efficient and costs them nothing.
“I haven’t taken any legal actions because I do not want to languish in the court and lose whatever I’ve got left in affording a lawyer. The way the committee has mediated my case, I have faith in whatever decision they make,” said one of the victims who opted for mediation instead of going to the court.
Previously, the callous agents knew about the insolvency of victims and did not worry about legal prosecution. But, aware of the free legal aid rendered, they too act sincerely. Knowing that RMMRU can appoint a lawyer on behalf of the victim if the case is not mediated, they attend the mediation settings dedicatedly.
Remember Nuru from the beginning? When he learned about RMMRU mediation, he approached the mediation committee and this time, the scenario was different. The mediators were able to bring the agent to the mediation and get Nuru a good portion of his money back. Justice was established after seven long years.
Raihan Rahman Rafid is a freelance contributor.
