A survey says 70 % labour migrants remain in the dark about their job provided by recruiting agencies
As many as 70% migrant workers bank on middlemen for completing migration related activities while 50% overseas jobseekers pay double the usual cost as passport fees, says an NGO report.
They also have to wait for long period of time for obtaining passports despite clearing the payment, the report adds.
A Chittagong-based non-governmental organisation Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) unveiled the report in a press briefing in Chittagong on Sunday.
YPSA prepared the report conducting a baseline survey among 270 migrant workers hailing from Rangunia upazila of the district.
The survey says 70 % labour migrants remain in the dark about their job provided by recruiting agencies with 90 % migrant workers collecting visas with the help of informal sources like relatives, neighbours, friends and middlemen.
Interestingly, 80% of them do not even have any idea about the services the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training provides.
Terming Chittagong an important district in terms of manpower export, YPSA Director Mahabubur Rahman said: “Chittagong sources 10% of the total labour migration and the rate is high in Rangunia.”
Sadly, there is no provision to resolve grievances at local level with regards to the labour migration, added Mahbubur.
While presenting the research findings, Abdus Sabur, manager of YPSA-Fairer Labour Migration in Bangladesh, a project of the NGO, placed 11 recommendations to address the hassle faced by overseas jobseekers.
Imparting necessary professional training to the overseas jobseekers, paving the way for sending labour migrants through the agencies approved by the government, giving necessary legal aid to the migrant workers, orienting the workers with the languages and culture of the destined countries, ensuring services by the high commissions of Bangladesh in overseas countries, expanding the activities of District Employment and Manpower Office at upazila level, ensuring hassle-free services during police verification and enforcing the Overseas Employment and Migrant Welfare Act 2013 are among the recommendations.
SOURCE: Dhaka Tribune
