Hasina warns recruiting agencies against deception in sending workers abroad

Those who cheat people by sending them abroad with false hope will face punishment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned.

“I would like to ask the recruiting agencies not to needlessly send our workers overseas by putting the focus on earnings only,” she said at an event organised in Dhaka on Thursday to observe the International Migrants Day.

More than 10 million Bangladesh nationals are working in 165 countries around the world and driving the economic growth by sending remittance.

Over the past few years, migrant workers from Bangladesh have made headlines due to the catastrophe they faced after being lured and sent abroad by middlemen illegally. Some of the plights of the migrant workers who had gone to Saudi Arabia with proper documents but were severely tortured there have shocked the nation as well.

“We’ve seen the ordinary people from rural parts of the country fall into the prey of the middlemen. They trap people with false promises and they finally sell everything and go overseas,” said the prime minister.

“Now there’s a scope for registration and choice of country [for those willing to work abroad]. They can check the job description, salary issues, protection before opting for the job. We’re even providing smart card for them. Despite all these initiatives, there are people who get cheated.”

“It’s very unfortunate that in some cases, people send over their children or spouse without understanding the sham. No one should walk into this trap,” Hasina added.

She cautioned those cheating the ordinary people against stringent measures and called for sincerity of the recruiting agencies and manpower importing authorities abroad to prevent such incidents.

The prime minister highlighted her government’s initiative for the welfare of migrants. “We have a goal to ensure the protection, job confirmation, to enhance the skills of those who go to work abroad.”

“Most of our foreign reserves comes from the remittance and we give utmost importance to the issue. We always ensure that the hard-earned money of the expatriates are spent properly for the country.”

Hasina called the expatriates to transfer fund back home through legal channels to avert the risk of the money going missing when they remit money through informal channels.

“We have taken an initiative to offer two percent cash incentive when they send money through a legal channel. We’ve allotted Tk 38 billion for this in the current budget.”

“There are some people in the airport who tend to rip off the expatriate workers. We’ve arranged a separate desk for the expat workers and installed CCTV cameras to prevent such incidents,” she said about the initiative to prevent harassment of expatriates at the airport.

The prime minister particularly stressed training of migrant workers. “This is a must. We need to focus on this, otherwise they will be tortured abroad.”

“I urge you all who work overseas and those who send them to be careful and uphold the image of your country abroad,” she said.

Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed, Parliamentary Standing Committee on the ministry chief Anisul Islam Mahmud, BAIRA President Benazir Ahmed and Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry Secretary Selim Reza were present on the occasion.