REPORTS carried in different national dailies on last Thursday said five Bangladeshis were killed and at least 151 injured when a gang of miscreants opened fire on a trawler which was carrying over 300 Bangladeshi people illegally to Malaysia. This terrible incident signifies the horrible condition of the manpower export industry which is marked by irregularities, mismanagement and other corrupt practices. That is why the unskilled, illiterate or poorly literate youths are becoming the worst victims of illegal human trade by the traffickers.
The unfortunate 330 people on board who set off for Malaysia from Moheshkhali coast in Cox’s Bazar were reportedly engaged in a clash with the crew over the shortage of food and consequently the armed traffickers fired indiscriminately on the ill-fated migrant travellers. These helpless rural youths sought the way to employment through unlawful channels because of the prevailing acute shortage of employment within the country in contrast to the government’s promise to provide jobs at least to one member of each family. The ground situation reveals that the rosy tales of economic hey-days are nothing but government propaganda.
The recent downward trend of manpower exports has some major causes. The government’s claim of an arrangement of sending workers to Malaysia costing Tk. 33000 only under an official protocol has proven to be a hoax. Thus the question peeps up in the public mind why a number of Bangladeshis are trying to go to Malaysia illegally through unauthorized channels. The ground reality is that the workers cannot go abroad – be that Malaysia or Middle East – at a reasonable cost as the government claimed. Seeking employment through govt channelich have to be given is not at all easy -it is time consuming, costly due to the bribes which have to be given for finding a political linkage. We slam such bureaucratic mismatches as their acts are set to spoil the job opportunities for our citizens abroad. Moreover, commercial operators charge more as they are guided by the tendency to make quick bucks and often cheat (both here and at the work-destination). They just make good use of the ‘black-labour market’ in countries like Malaysia, Italy, Greece and Iraq. A happy marriage between the brokers and local police along with poor national intelligence and ineffective coastal guard watches has made the situation more hazardous for the job seekers in foreign lands.
It is time to bust the unholy nexus among the vested interests, before it is too late. Bangladesh cannot simply afford to lose its manpower markets abroad when the country is overburdened with the problems of unemployment and under-employment of its bulging young population. This needs to be addressed effectively by the government. We demand that the wrong doers who are jeopardising the remittance earning sources by leading our youths in illegal paths be appropriately dealt with.
