The plight of Bangladeshi workers in foreign lands does not shock us anymore; we are somewhat inured to events of our countrymen facing abject living and working conditions abroad. Every now and then, news of utter horror is splashed before us.
In a common reaction, we all sigh for a few moments, lambast the lack of proper foreign labour monitoring system, try to understand the trauma of the people caught in helpless situations, and by the end of the day, forget it.
Life goes on, more people fly abroad with dreams and many more unfortunate ones become victims of intolerable situations. The suffering of workers has become part of a vicious cycle. And no, unless one sees the torment first hand, it’s difficult to gauge its enormity.
A few years ago, in London, I came face to face with a few Bangladeshi students who had gone to the UK, taking advantage of the relaxed rules of the time. Naturally, with the mandatory IELTS exam removed, hundreds joined the queue.
Study was the ostensible reason, though, at the back of the mind, there was always the lure of the pound sterling. While the British dream seemed so near, no one ever told these young men that the UK was deep in recession with jobs becoming rare.
Sweet hopes turned sour fast with countless youngsters ending up literally on the roads. A Bangladeshi working in the Victoria Station outlet of Burger King, who had come much earlier, was livid. How can these people be allowed to come harbouring a false dream? His outrage was palpable.
At that time, many had come with a few thousand pounds, hoping to pay part of the initial tuition fees and then, work to fund the rest of the education. Working and studying may sound liberating, though the reality is far from alluring. Many, failing to find work, were seen begging in front of the Brick Lane mosque on Eid day.
Exploiting the surfeit of eager young people, mercenary restaurant owners offered accommodation and food in return for service. Mind you, no daily wages were part of the deal.
The UK is currently just outside the recession line with the economy showing torpid signs of improving, but the ugly picture of five years ago still haunts.
The recent news of 93 Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia living without regular food, drink, and wages in extreme heat once again brings to the forefront the inexplicable conditions many expatriate workers have to face. Reportedly, these workers were getting paid regularly, but after the death of the company’s owner, an ownership rift has triggered the current state of hopeless stalemate.
In matters of property ownership, there will always be contention; however, suffering of workers is something we cannot accept.
Granted, handing of wages may be linked to the friction. But in such cases workers need to be apprised, and unless the issue is resolved, food, drink, and proper housing need to be provided. At least, that is what basic human morality states.
Even now, almost all of Europe is either in recession, or trying to portray a fragile picture of hope, stating paltry growth. Needless to say, the sluggish economic run of the past few years has comedown heavily on thousands of Bangladeshi workers abroad.
About a year ago, Bangladeshi workers in Greece were fired upon by the owner – an incident which underlines the sheer helplessness of many of our overseas labourers.
The most tragic aspect of the migrant worker equation is often the unrecorded suffering of female workers, who are mostly employed at homes as housemaids. The title of a maid or a governess sounds respect inducing, but in reality it means working without a break for almost seven days a week from dawn till late at night, often in the face of humiliating behaviour plus physical torture.
In recent times, the episodes of physical abuse by employers have come out in the open, though this has been the case since the early days of overseas labour.
I talked to a woman called Hasina who is now a retired housemaid, and worked in the Middle East in the mid 80s. While she stayed there for more than five years, Hasina, at regular intervals, had to endure slaps accompanied by rude behaviour.
“Sometimes, they (her employers) used to raise their hand but it was nothing serious – a slap or two,” Hasina says in a matter-of-fact way, accepting that such behaviour is not abnormal. Obviously, when a certain level of physical punishment is digested, the path is cleared for more torment.
Just recently, an employer in Hong Kong has been detained by the police for inflicting grievous bodily harm on an Indonesian maid. This means, when someone from a country with a relatively lower economic potency comes to work, he or she becomes a target of abuse.
Of course Bangladeshis will go abroad to work because countries that take our workers are importing labour for their need and, definitely not to do us a favour. This is a two way arrangement – we have people, you have the vacancies and work that your people are unwilling to do.
A lot of the time, when we ask developed countries to take workers from us, we make it sound like begging. Since achieving middle-income status is our national objective, we need to change our docile, subservient approach. Either take workers and give them the right privileges, or don’t take them at all. In Bangladesh, no one dies of hunger anymore and nor do we have recurrent food shortages.
As for those whose bee in the bonnet is to sell everything to go to a different country, a little background study about current economic trends of developed nations is essential. No point in becoming besotted with the “foreign dream” when visible signs are all depressing. Just because a nation is known for wealth does not mean it will provide us with all the pleasure and comfort.
Perhaps, once it was a good idea to go and make some money, but times do change. Sometimes, happiness and affluence can be achieved right here, just using a little acumen and foresight. At least, when someone tries to be violent unjustly, we don’t have to digest it with the rationale: “I am from a poor country, it’s better to keep quiet!”
