Shah Alam Nur :
The number of female workers moving to other countries for jobs stood over 81924 in last 10 months of the current calendar year.
“This will obviously enhance women’s economic security, mobility and decision-making capacity,” Mohammed Abul Bashar, President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) told The New Nation.
Not only that, in it, women gain more knowledge and confidence. He said, “Each and every female worker is, thus, protected when she works abroad.
According to the statistics of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), 95 percent of more than 2.5 lakh female migrants are working mainly in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and Bahrain as helps whose monthly salaries range between $ 150 and 200.
These countries, except Jordan, do not recognise maids in their national labour law. This means they are not guaranteed rights such as weekly day off, working hour limit and compensation.
The female workers at garment factories in Jordan or at fish processing factories in Mauritius come under the labour law, but they represent a very small percentage.
Recently Hong Kong has started recruiting female house helps after imparting two months’ training in Bangladesh. Their monthly wage is $ 500, which is much better than that of the Gulf countries.
Tasneem Siddiqui, Chairperson of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit of Dhaka University said, Bangladesh does not have strong service system to help its domestic workers abroad.
She said, the authorities concerned are now encouraging female migration, but the training facilities and the welfare services in the destination countries are still weak.
Those going to the Gulf should also be provided with similar training. The present 21-day training for the Gulf-bound domestic workers was not sufficient at all, said Siddiqui.
The number of female workers moving to other countries for jobs stood over 81924 in last 10 months of the current calendar year.
“This will obviously enhance women’s economic security, mobility and decision-making capacity,” Mohammed Abul Bashar, President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) told The New Nation.
Not only that, in it, women gain more knowledge and confidence. He said, “Each and every female worker is, thus, protected when she works abroad.
According to the statistics of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), 95 percent of more than 2.5 lakh female migrants are working mainly in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and Bahrain as helps whose monthly salaries range between $ 150 and 200.
These countries, except Jordan, do not recognise maids in their national labour law. This means they are not guaranteed rights such as weekly day off, working hour limit and compensation.
The female workers at garment factories in Jordan or at fish processing factories in Mauritius come under the labour law, but they represent a very small percentage.
Recently Hong Kong has started recruiting female house helps after imparting two months’ training in Bangladesh. Their monthly wage is $ 500, which is much better than that of the Gulf countries.
Tasneem Siddiqui, Chairperson of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit of Dhaka University said, Bangladesh does not have strong service system to help its domestic workers abroad.
She said, the authorities concerned are now encouraging female migration, but the training facilities and the welfare services in the destination countries are still weak.
Those going to the Gulf should also be provided with similar training. The present 21-day training for the Gulf-bound domestic workers was not sufficient at all, said Siddiqui.
