Shah Alam Nur :Country’s manpower market is shrinking abroad, because of ongoing economic and political turmoil across the world.”Besides, our government inability to maintain channel is also a major cause,” said Dr Tasneem Siddiqui, Chairperson of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) a research organisation on Tuesday.She said if Qatar and Oman stop recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, then there will be a major diplomatic setback in the sector.According to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), more than 5.5 lakh Bangladeshis had gone abroad for jobs in 2015. Of the total, nearly 80 per cent of total workers travelled to the Gulf and other Middle Eastern countries in 2015. The highest number of workers (23 per cent) got jobs in Oman, followed by Qatar (22 per cent).Insiders said the world has long been passing a bad time due to economic crisis and political turmoil. Yet, Qatar and Oman continue to recruit Bangladeshis.The main market for Bangladesh manpower export is the Middle-East country, but countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have recruited lesser number of workers in the last few years.At the same time, Bangladesh manpower demand in Malaysia also has dropped radically. Malaysia was the second largest market for Bangladeshi manpower.President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Abul Bashar said, “Lion share of Bangladeshi workers were recruited by Qatar and Oman, We need to search for new markets immediately for further growth and for avoiding any unwanted setback.”Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar termed the situation normal. “History of Bangladeshi manpower export shows that the country have always depended on some selected countries. In view of different situation, the export destination may shift from one country to another. It is quite natural.”Besides, Bangladeshis have been going to other Middle East countries though the number is not significant, she addedShe expressed optimism that the government has been trying to strengthen bilateral ties with other countries, which are now recruiting Bangladeshi workers.The data showed, more than nine million Bangladeshis are working in 143 countries, most of them in the Middle East. According to the data, KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, S. Korea, Brunei and Iraq recruited 58278, 25271, 17472, 129859, 123965, 20720, 19112, 22093, 30483, 55573, 2358, 8354 and 13982 Bangladeshi labourers respectively in 2015.
