Reza Mahmud :
Recruiting agencies are collecting extra money from migrant workers during going abroad due to government’s alleged lack of surveillance, sources said.
“I have paid Tk 6 lakh for being recruited a shop worker in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). But my recruiting agency told me not to say anything about the extra money they have taken. If I disclose this, then it will be harmful for me in getting job in the KSA,” said Ariful Hasan from Dinajpur district but did not mention the name of the agency.
According to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, the fixed charge of workers recruitment in Saudi Arabia is Tk 165,000.
Rezaul Haque, another man from Faridpur district, said that he had also paid Tk 6 lakh to the recruiting agency for going to Saudi Arabia. “I left Dhaka for Saudi Arabia about three months back but the agency is yet to provide me a job here in the Kingdom.”
It is to be noted that the fixed charge for manpower recruitment in Malaysia is Tk 75,000. Of the total charge, the workers have to pay Tk 37,000 for air fare, recruiting agents charge and medical costs. The other charges will be paid by the employers of Malaysia.
Although the government warned the manpower recruiting agencies not to collect extra money, no one followed the government directions.
Most of the recruiting agencies are involved in collecting huge amount of extra money from the migrant workers when they recruit manpower for Saudi Arabia and Malaysian companies, it was alleged.
Sadikul Alam from Magura said a recruiting agency has taken more than Tk 2 lakh from him for give him a job in Malaysian company.
When contacted, Begum Shamsunnahar, Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, refrained from saying anything about the matter.
“I am busy now. I shall tell you later about the matter,” she said yesterday.
Bangladesh International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Secretary General Md.Ruhul Amin Swapan said, “It is true that dishonest owners of some recruiting agencies are collecting extra money. We are trying to identify and punished them.”
He, however, said as there is a very few demand for recruitment abroad, it pushed the workers in contest to give extra money to the agencies for recruitments.
“Though most of the countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar and some other middle-eastern states had halted manpower recruiting from Bangladesh for long, some of them have already started taking workers from here. It has created huge competitions among the workers who want to go abroad,” the BAIRA secretary general said.
The affected families want appropriate surveillance from the government to get them rid of their sufferings.
