Bangladesh’s efforts to send workers to five countries have suffered a blow as those nations adopted restrictive measures before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Steps taken by Middle Eastern countries Bahrain and Iraq before the pandemic had made it difficult for Bangladesh to send workers there. Kuwait, Brunei and Mauritius, an African island nation Mauritius, have taken some measures caused by the pandemic, leading to a decline in the recruitment of foreign workers.
In 2017, Bangladesh sent 10.08 lakh workers abroad for employment. Of them, the five countries hired 87,270. Last year, Saudi Arabia alone hired 4.55 lakh Bangladeshi workers. In contrast, approval of demand letters by the five countries came down to almost zero in 2020 when air communications between Bangladesh and those nations remained snapped due to the pandemic. Kuwait imposed a restriction on the issuance of demand letters and it remained in force till July last year due to the pandemic. Besides, it suspended air communications with many countries, including Bangladesh. Although the Bahrain authorities did not specify reasons for this, they voiced concern at times over a large number of undocumented Bangladeshi workers staying there. In Iraq, the authorities had stopped issuing employment visas to Bangladeshis in 2019. Political instability in the Arab country is another reason for the low rate of recruitment of foreign workers.
Bangladesh’s diplomatic efforts to regenerate these labour markets were falling short of expectations. The country sent about 6.17 lakh workers abroad last year. Only 2,091 or 0.33 per cent of them went to these five countries. The government needs to make effective diplomatic efforts and ensure an ethical recruitment process to regenerate labour markets in those five countries. The government also has to look into whether the job seekers are securing jobs as per contract. We think the government should invest in skill-developing activities for youth, gear up universities to adopt global trends and collaborate with international agencies thus our youth become equipped with knowledge and skills for their specific job sector here and abroad.
