Bangladesh News

The government is introducing smart card, a tag with computer chip, for overseas jobseekers from tomorrow to ease the immigration process and help them more effectively while they are abroad.

The card will contain all the information furnished in the passport, a jobseeker’s fingerprints and the name and licence number of the recruiting agency so that the authorities can identify all the parties involved in the migration process and take prompt actions when needed.

“With a smart card a migrant will not have to fill up embarkation form at the airport. The form will be automatically furnished when the smart card is inserted in a card reader,” said Khurshed Alam Chowdhury, director general of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET).

This will greatly reduce their initial hassles at the airport, he said, adding that a migrant will have to keep the card safe with highest priority, as besides the passport, it bears proof of an overseas worker’s valid documents.

The BMET in assistance with Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology is introducing the new system on pilot basis. It will be fully functional by February 20, Chowdhury told The Daily Star Thursday.

A jobseeker will obtain the smart card when he has clearances from BMET after completing all the formalities. He will not be allowed to pass the airport immigration without the card once the system is fully operational, he said.

Until now, immigration police record travellers’ information but with the introduction of the smart card the BMET welfare desk will keep data of a worker’s departure and arrival, said an official of Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

This system will help the government preserve the exact data of Bangladeshi workers staying overseas, he said, adding that the migrants face a lot of problems abroad but our embassies can hardly take instant measures, as it is difficult to identify the status of a worker if someone seizes his passport.

In most manpower importing countries, employers seizing their workers’ passports and abusing them has become a common practice. Under such realities, workers become helpless and face much trouble.

“But if a smart card holder loses his passport, he can place the card at Bangladesh embassy, which can promptly check his information and take immediate steps to address the problems,” the official said.

BMET Director Nurul Islam said families of dead migrant workers face huge difficulties in getting compensation money from BMET or district manpower offices. This is because the migrants’ nominees need to be freshly determined, which requires verification.

In the new system, the smart card will include names and photographs of the nominees. Therefore, the nominees can easily be identified. However, if someone fails to present the smart card, the previous process of verification will determine the nominees, he said.

Asked what happens if a worker loses his smart card, Khurshed Alam said a way would surely be devised to address such cases.

“As we start the system on pilot basis, we shall add new features to it based on our experiences,” he said.

Asked how smart card can help check passport forgery, Chowdhury said forging smart card is impossible. Workers will get fast solutions with the smart card if they are in trouble. It is expected that they will refrain from any forgery.