Special Correspondent :
About 25,000 Bangladeshis have returned home in the first nine months of this year after losing their jobs abroad.
Half of them came back from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the largest job market for Bangladeshi nationals.
In between January and September, about 12,000 returned from Saudi Arabia, according to BRAC Migration Programme.
Besides, about 4,000 retuned from the UAE, 3,000 from Oman, 2,500 from Malaysia, 1,500 from Qatar and 1,000 from the Maldives.
The number of returnees might go up in the days to come as the authorities of Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have intensified crackdown on undocumented foreign workers, according to migration experts.
They said Saudi Arabia has been deporting thousands of illegal foreign workers as part of labour market reforms, while Malaysia will take the same steps after December and thus may lead up to a higher number of returnees.
Commenting on the matter, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) Chairperson, also a Political Science Professor at Dhaka University, Dr Tasneem Siddiqui said, the job opportunities for Bangladeshi citizens is drying up in Saudi Arabia after the Saudi announced preferential treatment for Saudi citizens in all employment sectors.
“Though the KSA is still the largest overseas job market for Bangladeshis, their employers are not renewing contract afresh rendering many of them illegal,” she said.
Dr Tasneem Siddiqui mentioned that the Saudi authorities have already deported thousands of illegal foreign workers, including Bangladeshis.
“So, the number of Bangladeshi returnees is expected to rise further unless the Saudi government offers any new amnesty scheme,” she added.
As the country’s manpower exports to traditional markets continue to shrink, Dr Tasneem Siddiqui urged the government to take necessary steps to explore new job markets so that the country’s manpower exports remain unhurt.
Many female workers became victims of physical and sexual abuse returned home from Middle Eastern countries in July- September this year.
About 1,000 Bangladeshi female migrant workers came back home during the said period, according to BRAC Migration Programme.
“Exports of female workers can also decline in the days to come as they are frequently falling victims of physical and sexual abuse by their employers in Middle Eastern countries,” said Dr Tasneem Siddiqui.
