Remittance fails to keep up with migration: report

Bangladesh's manpower export rose 30 percent year-on-year in 2015, but remittance inflow went up only 1.8 percent, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) said in a report yesterday.

More than 5.42 lakh men and 92,000 women migrated to different countries until yesterday, while the numbers stood at about 4.25 lakh and 76,007 at the end of last year, the report said citing statistics of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.

At the same time, remittances surged to $15 billion but this is not 'satisfactory' in comparison to the rise in manpower exports, said Prof Tasneem Siddique, founding chair of the RMMRU.

“This year, female migration increased 19 percent. This is obviously a good sign for us in the perspective of women's empowerment, but the issues with their protection still remain frustrating.”

A hike in the number of migrants entering Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait has significantly contributed to the growth of overall migration, she said while unveiling the report -- Pattern and Trends of Labour Migration 2015: Achievements and Challenges -- at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

On average, a male migrant has remitted Tk 2 lakh, while a female has remitted Tk 80,000 a year, but the female's contribution is higher in terms of the percentage of their incomes, Tasneem added.

She also expressed frustration over the slow pace of investigation in human trafficking cases.

“The government has brought back the victims of human trafficking from abroad. But the influential people involved in trafficking could not be brought to book although the media exposed their names,” she said.