Shahriar assures Bangladesh migrant workers of support for their families

State minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has highlighted the contribution of Bangladeshi migrant workers in the country’s economy and assured them that the government would take care of their families.

He said their family members back home face different types of social problems and anxiety and children feel the absence of their parents.

“I want to assure you on behalf of the government that the issues of mental and physical care of the family members back home would be taken into serious consideration,” he said.

“We have also arranged some scholarships for the children of the expatriates for their study,” Alam said.

The state minister spoke at the launch of a new book by the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit, or RMMRU, in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The book, “Beyond Remittance: The social cost of migration on families left behind in Bangladesh”, put together the stories of migrant workers’ families.

The book presents the story of ‘one in 16 Bangladeshis’ as 10 million Bangladeshis out of 160 million are working abroad, he said.

“Their earnings were $16 billion last year which is the second largest source of foreign currency. They are not only helping us balancing trade gap, but also helping the country graduate from the LDC,” he said, expressing the “gratitude” of the government.

He also stressed safe and orderly migration as Bangladesh led the ‘global compact on safe orderly and regular migration’ which was adopted by the UN last year in the General Assembly.