Business Desk :
The government will implement a $50 million project with the World Bank to reintegrate returning Bangladeshi workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic into the national economy.
The project, named “Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE): Reintegration and Returning Migrants”, focuses on rehabilitating expats who lost their jobs abroad in the last two years, said a top official of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment to last week.
The ministry will implement the project with $50 million in soft loan from the global lender, as well as Tk2.3 crore through local sources.
The duration of the project ranges between July 2021 and June 2024.
According to the special branch of the Bangladesh Police, some 500,000 Bangladeshis lost their jobs in 2020 in overseas countries as Covid-19 hit global economies.
The report also warned that the country may experience social unrest and rise in criminal activities unless returning jobless migrants were not property rehabilitated and engaged in economic activities.
The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, in cooperation with the special branch of the police, conducted the survey on expatriate Bangladeshis who returned home after losing job in overseas countries in 2020.
Six Gulf countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – the major receivers of Bangladeshis workers – have been hit hard by the Corona-19 pandemic that in turn resulted in losses of jobs.
Out of half a million Bangladeshis who lost their jobs and returned home almost empty, the share of Gulf countries was higher.
Migration costs
The migration cost is the highest in case of Bangladeshis among South Asian countries and each migrant has either sold his or her paternal properties or borrowed money at high interest rates before going overseas. The salary of an unskilled worker usually ranges from Tk20,000-30,000 per month. S/he has to work at least 3-4 years to meet the loans, a top official of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) told last week.
Under the project, the ministry will prepare data on some 200,000 expatriate Bangladeshis who lost their jobs during the pandemic period 2020.
Each person will get Tk13,500 and overall 200,000 returnees will get Tk270 crore through mobile financial services and traditional banking system.
Besides under this project, another 200,000 returnees will also be given orientation courses and counselling, said an official.
The ministry will involve local administration, local representatives and respected personalities, NGOs, different government offices, different banks and financial institutions and public and private technical training centres.
The trainees will include female and aging workers, expats who lost jobs and returned home without service benefits, those who have no other in their family for earning a livelihood, expats who are in debt and unable to repay them, and the sorts, said a ministry official.
Meanwhile, the government will set up welfare centres in Dhaka, Jessore, Kushtia, Faridpur, Gopalganj, Barisal, Noakhali, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Mymensingh, Tangail, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Brahmanbaria, Comilla, Narshigdi, Feni, Chandpur, Rajshahi, Pabna, Naogaon, Bogra, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Rangur, Khulana, Patuakhali and Munshiganj districts and will cover returning migrants of 64 districts.
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Md A Khaleque Mullick told that hundreds of Bangladeshis lost their jobs in overseas markets during the pandemic period, particularly in 2020, and returned home.
It is important to engage the migrant returnees in productive sectors. The government is sympathetic to the problems of expats and working hard to solve their issues, he added.
