Corona virus has had a negative impact on every aspect of the world. In its continuation, the immigrant Bangladeshis have fallen into a great crisis. More than 14 lakh immigrants have already returned to the country from different parts of the world after the outbreak of corona, who have no way or possibility to go back for the time getting better. Then, what will these returning expatriates do in this difficult time?
Reports show that more than 1 crore Bangladeshis are currently working in different countries of the world. About 75 to 80 percent of them are only in the Middle-east. Oil is one of the main sources of income in the Middle-east. But this sector has almost collapsed because of the outburst of corona. Oil prices have plummeted, and pushing the economy to a standstill. Moreover, in order to reduce the spread of corona, the countries have closed down all the institutions including banks and industries which lead the immigrants in a lot of crisis. One after another immigrant workers have started losing their jobs due to layoffs. These unemployed expatriates are now struggling to make a daily living. They are now in a double crisis. There is no easy way to back to the homeland, and there is no guarantee of work in the country after returning. So how will these unemployed immigrant workers go?
Many Bangladeshi expatriates are staying in different countries without any valid documents, who do not have a specific work address. Besides, there are a lot of Bangladeshi migrants in many countries of the world who do not have a specific place to go. Thousands of Bangladeshi migrants are spending their days without food. According to various media reports, the migrants are living an extremely inhuman life owing to the lack of food. What is the future of these illegal expatriates and migrants? What is in their fate?
The ministry of foreign affairs fears that about 10 to 15 lakh Bangladeshi immigrants have already lost their jobs in different countries of the world. Many of them who are in a better position have started coming back to Bangladesh. This number has already exceeded a few thousand. Many immigrants have started applying to the embassy to return to the country from Saudi Arabia, which is devastated by the Corona. It is said that in the next few months, about 2 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates will return to the country from Saudi Arabia alone. Apart from Saudi Arabia, expatriates from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Maldives, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq are also returning to the country.
In this situation, Bangladesh is going to face a tremendous crisis. On the one hand, the uncertainty of work of these returning immigrants, and on the other hand, the anxiety about the unemployed immigrants living abroad. It is feared that it will be very difficult for Bangladesh to cope with this shock if such a large number of immigrants become unemployed at the same time. Moreover, remittances sent by immigrants are declining, which has started to have a huge impact on the economy. There is no quick fix to get out of this predicament.
Remittances make an important contribution to the economy of Bangladesh. A large part of the national income comes from this remittance sector. Accordance with the survey, 10 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP comes from the immigrants. But the outbreak of Corona has decreased the remittance sector too. Bangladesh’s foreign exchange earnings have been declining since January, which is still ongoing. Day by day, this rate is going down. And it has started to decline drastically in May and June. Since the situation is not improving quickly, it will continue to do so in the coming months. And this is of course a great concern for Bangladesh. According to the World Bank’s forecast, remittances worldwide will decline by 20 percent this year. And in Bangladesh, it will be reduced by 22 percent.
According to the report, in the fiscal year 2018-19, remittances of 1439 crore 70 lakh Dollars came to Bangladesh. and in the fiscal year 2019-20, remittances have reached 1595 crore 20 lakh dollars till May. Here a question may arise that, why the remittance is higher than the previous year in spite of having such crisis? The answer is that most immigrants have even sent their savings to their families. Who will deny their sacrifice even during such a climacterics?
In fact, immigrants are the fighters. They are real-life heroes. Everyone knows how diligently an immigrant works, earns money, and sends for the country. It is important to be by the side of those who live thousands of miles away from their beloved ones and families. The Government can not ignore their suffering.
Although the government is assuring that all kinds of help will be provided to the immigrants and arrangements will be made to send the immigrants back to the country after the corona crisis is over. But it remains uncertain. For now, the incentives announced for them need to be implemented transparently. The government should increase the incentives allocated for them in the budget. Apart from this, loans should be given to the immigrants on easy terms. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigrant Welfare will have to take appropriate steps to deal with the food and housing crisis of expatriates in different countries. In the case of migrant Bangladeshis, special arrangements should be made to bring them back to the country safely.
(Naeem Ariyan, Department of English, University of Chittagong).
