Syed Shemul Parvez :
Around 3,26,756 migrant workers have returned home from 29 countries till November this year after losing their jobs.
Meanwhile, an approximate 10 lakh Bangladeshi workers could not avail overseas jobs in the outgoing year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of them, some 5.5 lakh people who were expecting to go abroad through normal processes could not find jobs while nearly 1.5 lakh others who came home on vacation could not return to their workplaces.
Though the government has taken some initiatives to financially reintegrate these returning workers, it is limited to only issuing a small amount of loans and giving experience certificates.
However, the process of reintegration of expatriate workers is seen as a big challenge both financially and socially.
Alauddin from Faridpur has been working in Saudi Arabia for 19 years.
He returned to the country before corona infection had begun. After coming to the country, he has been leading his family for 6 months with loan money.
He has been passing his days hoping to get a new job. He thought if he gets a new job, he would repay the previously taken loan as soon as. His question is, I can’t find the way to repay the current loan, and how will I work with the new loan?
Many expatriate workers like Alauddin have lost their jobs due to lack of availability. But due to lack of income, they are now struggling to repay the loan.
According to a recent rapid Assessment of the Migrant Workers Development Program, about 32.5 percent of migrant workers have lost their jobs and 47 percent do not want to come back to the country in the fear of losing jobs permanently and reduced salaries.
BRAC’s immigration program conducted a survey last May, talking to 558 returnee workers. It is said that around 87 percent of migrant workers who returned home, have no any source of income now.
The number of returnees who can run for three months or more with their own savings is around 33 percent.
On the other hand, a non-government research organization the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RAMRU), conducted a survey over 50 expatriate workers returning home in June and found that 87 percent of them owed something abroad.
The amount of this indue is 9 thousand taka to 5 lakh taka for person based.
The government, however, has arranged a special rehabilitation loan at 4 percent simple interest for the corona affected migrant workers.
But, the conditions for obtaining this loan are very critical, said the expatriate workers and immigration experts.
About 700 crore taka has been provided for this purpose. Of this, Wage Earners Welfare Board has given Tk 200 crore to Prabasi Kalyan Bank without interest.
The remaining taka 500 crore is in process.
This loan will be available to the migrant workers who have returned to the country after March 1 this year mainly due to corona infection.
According to manpower bureau data, over 10 million Bangladeshi migrants employed in 173 countries around the world in 2019 sent home approximately $18.35 billion in remittance, which was 40 per cent of the country’s total foreign exchange reserve.
Last year around 1,944 workers, on an average, went abroad daily with jobs, mostly in the Middle East, but now daily over 2,700 workers on an average were returning home, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training officials added.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said that the overseas employment sector of Bangladesh was the worst-affected sector due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The migrant workers, who are stranded in the country due to the closure of flights in the pandemic situation, will be sent on priority basis if the situation returns to normal, Minister added.
Earlier, several thousand migrants who got stranded in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated in front of the foreign ministry in November demanding a quick return to their workplaces.
Around 3,26,756 migrant workers have returned home from 29 countries till November this year after losing their jobs.
Meanwhile, an approximate 10 lakh Bangladeshi workers could not avail overseas jobs in the outgoing year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of them, some 5.5 lakh people who were expecting to go abroad through normal processes could not find jobs while nearly 1.5 lakh others who came home on vacation could not return to their workplaces.
Though the government has taken some initiatives to financially reintegrate these returning workers, it is limited to only issuing a small amount of loans and giving experience certificates.
However, the process of reintegration of expatriate workers is seen as a big challenge both financially and socially.
Alauddin from Faridpur has been working in Saudi Arabia for 19 years.
He returned to the country before corona infection had begun. After coming to the country, he has been leading his family for 6 months with loan money.
He has been passing his days hoping to get a new job. He thought if he gets a new job, he would repay the previously taken loan as soon as. His question is, I can’t find the way to repay the current loan, and how will I work with the new loan?
Many expatriate workers like Alauddin have lost their jobs due to lack of availability. But due to lack of income, they are now struggling to repay the loan.
According to a recent rapid Assessment of the Migrant Workers Development Program, about 32.5 percent of migrant workers have lost their jobs and 47 percent do not want to come back to the country in the fear of losing jobs permanently and reduced salaries.
BRAC’s immigration program conducted a survey last May, talking to 558 returnee workers. It is said that around 87 percent of migrant workers who returned home, have no any source of income now.
The number of returnees who can run for three months or more with their own savings is around 33 percent.
On the other hand, a non-government research organization the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RAMRU), conducted a survey over 50 expatriate workers returning home in June and found that 87 percent of them owed something abroad.
The amount of this indue is 9 thousand taka to 5 lakh taka for person based.
The government, however, has arranged a special rehabilitation loan at 4 percent simple interest for the corona affected migrant workers.
But, the conditions for obtaining this loan are very critical, said the expatriate workers and immigration experts.
About 700 crore taka has been provided for this purpose. Of this, Wage Earners Welfare Board has given Tk 200 crore to Prabasi Kalyan Bank without interest.
The remaining taka 500 crore is in process.
This loan will be available to the migrant workers who have returned to the country after March 1 this year mainly due to corona infection.
According to manpower bureau data, over 10 million Bangladeshi migrants employed in 173 countries around the world in 2019 sent home approximately $18.35 billion in remittance, which was 40 per cent of the country’s total foreign exchange reserve.
Last year around 1,944 workers, on an average, went abroad daily with jobs, mostly in the Middle East, but now daily over 2,700 workers on an average were returning home, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training officials added.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said that the overseas employment sector of Bangladesh was the worst-affected sector due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The migrant workers, who are stranded in the country due to the closure of flights in the pandemic situation, will be sent on priority basis if the situation returns to normal, Minister added.
Earlier, several thousand migrants who got stranded in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated in front of the foreign ministry in November demanding a quick return to their workplaces.
