Manpower export stares down the barrel

Striking yet another blow to Bangladesh's problem-ridden manpower export sector at a time of prolonged economic jitters, the Maldives has now stopped issuing new work visas to Bangladeshis. This retrogressive development comes on the heels of a similar move by Malaysia just last week. Earlier, Oman, UAE and Romania also slapped a ban on hiring Bangladeshi workers. The world, it seems, is closing in on Bangladeshi expatriate workers, and it is not even for their fault. The reason is none other than the exploitation and swindling of the poor migrant workers at almost every step of the migration process. Needless to say, the closure of several vital manpower export markets will have serious economic ramifications for Bangladesh.

Given the importance of the manpower export and overseas employment sector for the nation's economy, policymakers and planners must not take the bans on the entry of Bangladeshi workers lightly. The problems in this sector have been widely discussed time and again. For example, the government has set a maximum fee for immigration on work visas to various countries. Recruiting agencies, however, charge four to five times higher than the government-set fees. Unfortunately, there is no accountability. The aspirant expatriate workers are forced to sign a form that declares they only paid the government-fixed charge; otherwise the job offer is withdrawn by the recruiting agencies. Also, fraudulent recruiting agencies offer bogus visas and lure them abroad to non-existent jobs. When the migrant workers - the majority of whom hail from poor to pitiable backgrounds - don't find the jobs they were promised or fail to produce the proper papers, they face all sorts of problems on foreign soil. They go on the run to escape police detection and be deported or get caught by the police as illegal migrants and be jailed.

In some of the worst-case scenarios, workers took shelter like fugitives from the law in jungles or remote places and led indescribably miserable lives. Many have been brutally tortured by the police for breaking the migration laws, while others became victims of human traffickers and entered hell on earth. Is this what innocent Bangladeshi job seekers deserve? Who is responsible for their suffering? More importantly, how can the government turn a blind eye to their suffering and not come to their help? Before the domino effect of manpower export market closures worldwide intensifies, the government needs to act and protect this vital revenue-earning sector.

The authorities concerned must take a serious look at the entire operation, ensure every worker is respected as a remittance-earner for the nation; that no outbound worker is cheated or harassed, and make appropriate changes to streamline the manpower export sector. The Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment needs to reassess and considerably improve the effectiveness of District Manpower and Employment Offices (DMEO) and the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) to iron out the problems in the migration process. Bangladesh missions abroad should also vet and confirm the existence of alleged jobs to protect Bangladeshi citizens from harassment and fraud. The earning potential of this manpower sector is enormous and must not be ruined by unscrupulous entities or incompetent government departments.