RACKETS of brokers have been controlling recruitment of workers from Bangladesh in Brunei, resulting in manpower recruitment in jeopardy. Bangladesh mission officials in Bandar Seri Begawan said brokers take possession of passports of Bangladeshi workers after arrival and compel them to pay a monthly commission of up to USD 100 each. Brokers often recruit Bangladeshi workers for fake companies against no job in reality without getting the visas attested by the Bangladesh High Commission’s labour wing. The organised brokers collect visas from Brunei’s labour department thru unethical ways and charge each worker up to Tk 5 lakh as migration cost.
The migration without proper documents pushes the labours to live in street that ultimately tarnishes the country’s image and threatens the job market for Bangladeshi workers. To avert the untoward situation, the immigration department should stop passing border or boarding on plane at airport and the stringent monitoring into the manpower recruiters. Dhaka might adopt a recruitment process arranged by the Philippines with Brunei under which up to 30 manpower agencies, approved by the Brunei government, were provided licences by the Philippines authorities to hire Filipino workers. Officials said that Bangladeshi workers frequently lodged complaints to the Bangladesh mission’s labour wing in Brunei’s capital that they were cheated or denied their wages. About 30,000 Bangladeshi workers are currently working in Brunei, with most of them employed in the construction sector.
Brunei has huge demand for skilled workers, including tile fixers, electricians and maintenance workers, and the wages of the skilled workers were far higher than those of the unskilled ones. The Bangladesh mission has advised the Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry for creating a pool of trade-wise skilled workers for Brunei, especially gas welders, paramedics, nurses, domestic helps, agriculture workers, fishermen, caterers, chefs, petro-chemists, engineers, and landscapers.
The Southeast Asian island state, Brunei, is a rich country which can be the next destination for Bangladesh semi-skilled and skilled workers. To unwrap the opportunity, the government must arrange mandatory training for migrant aspirants along with teaching them language and culture of the targeted country.
