The UN Committee meets in Geneva next month to review Bangladesh’s commitment to protecting its migrant workers under the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. The HOME has provided legal aid, employment advice and financial assistance to 776 Bangladeshis, while TWC2 has provided services to 2,834 Bangladeshis in last two years.
The 11 indicators include abuse of vulnerability, deception, restriction of movement, isolation, retention of identity documents, physical and sexual violence, withholding of wages, intimidation and threats, debt bondage, excessive overtime, abusive living and working conditions and excessive overtime. It says vulnerability of the migrant springs from the high fees demanded by recruiters and intermediaries in Bangladesh.
A survey by TWC2 published last month found that in 2015, first-time Bangladeshi construction workers paid an average of 15,555 Singaporean dollars or Tk 8.7 lakh to work in Singapore, now home to 160,000 Bangladeshis. However, their basic monthly salaries are low, which mostly range from S$300 to S$600, which means, their recruitment fees could be equivalent to between 26-51 months of their wages.
It should not come as a surprise that the workers are the wretched of the earth — neither their government nor the Singaporean government have been able to help them. It is the common plight that our workers overseas suffer while receiving little or no assistance from our consular offices abroad. This situation must change as our Embassies abroad must be more vigorous and proactive to help prevent such exploitation of our workers.
Other things can also be done — provide the workers with a rudimentary training so that they can themselves apply directly for jobs — thus forever cutting out the need for middlemen and their high charges — it makes no sense to pay money for a job which will pay for itself from anywhere from 2-5 years. Promotional campaigns to elucidate the absurdity of the situation and to reveal the full extent of the trap our workers get into should be aired on all electronic and print media.
There seems to be no end to the agonies our tireless hardworking workers face — and it seems to be a situation which goes on repeating itself. We need to do more to protect our workers now — regulating fees which are being charged and ensuring their welfare through our consulates abroad are good options to look into now.
