Bangladesh News

Lack of coordination among different wings of Bangladesh missions jeopardised overseas job market for Bangladeshi nationals, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said yesterday.

The tendency of mission officials to work independently without any involvement of the head of the mission endangered the market prospect for expatriates, she said.

The minister made the remark at the concluding session of a three-day training programme organised by International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UN Development Fund for Women (Unifem) at Hotel Westin in the capital. The training programme was organised for thirteen labour attaches, working at Bangladesh missions in different countries.

In her address Dipu Moni said, “Our government will not tolerate such attitude anymore. Stern actions will be taken against those officers found responsible for such behaviours irrespective of their administrative affiliations.”

Last year a total of 8.75 lakh workers went abroad for jobs and Bangladesh received remittances of $9.01 billion from around 5.5 million workers. In comparison with last year, labour migration has declined by 47 percent, which would eventually have an impact on remittances.

The minister said an embassy represents the entire government and thus it should function like a single unit with a good coordination between different wings of the mission.

Stating that the present situation saddens her, the minister asked the labour officials to work with coherence in efforts to make the situation favourable to the migrants, which would help gain their trust and confidence.

“You must remember that you are on a mission, not a mere job, and your goal is to accomplish the mission by best serving our expatriate workers,” she said.

She noted that many workers overstay abroad to recover the high migration cost, which is perceived as one of the reasons behind the crippled labour market and the adversity workers face.

IOM Regional Representative for South Asia Rabab Fatima and Unifem National Programme Officer Naheed Ahmed also spoke at the session.

Labour attaches and migration experts suggested the dominance of the unauthorised manpower brokers, who contribute to high migration cost by trading on visas, be curtailed.

Director General of The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training Khurshed Alam Choudhury said the government is going to declare a mechanism soon to cut the migration cost.

A research wing of the labour market will also be set up, he added.

President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies Ghulam Mustafa said the trade body is framing a code of conduct for the recruiting agencies to discipline the sector, and sought stern actions against the agencies involved in irregularities