The government is going to introduce a mandatory insurance coverage for all Bangladeshi expatriates who are working in abroad with effect from December 19, 2019 and for this, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry has recently issued a gazette notification. The workers will be offered two insurance products to choose for a two-year term i.e. the Policy One will be of Tk 200,000 with a premium of Tk 990 and the Policy Two of Tk 500,000 with a premium of Tk 2,475. The Ministry has introduced such insurance for the protection of migrant workers with benefits in cases of their death or disability. No doubt it is a bold step by the government.
As per the data available with the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, an estimated 0.6 million workers go abroad from Bangladesh annually and more than 12 million Bangladeshis have gone to different countries since the year 1976.
When the migrant workers go abroad, they have to face hurdle both before and after their departure for countries of destinations and these are not myriad in number but formidable and daunting in nature. They have to spend huge amounts that force them to borrow or sale family assets. Officially there is a fixed ceiling on the costs for migration but it is more often violated than complied with.
Lack of adequate skills make the migrant workers work in low-paying wages. There is vast scope for upgrading their skills before they leave for employment abroad which will benefit both the workers and the country through higher income and remittance.
The fact is that the expatriates are facing so many hurdles in abroad and in many cases when they come back in home, they are in empty hand and they have nothing to give their family members. In that case insurance coverage will give them an assurance of hope and reward. In the same time, their other problems will be addressed properly and resolved in the right way.
Md. Zillur Rahaman
Satish Sarker Road
Gandaria, Dhaka
[email protected]
