Dhaka asks UAE to restart hiring Bangladeshis

Against the backdrop of restrictions imposed on recruiting Bangladeshis for jobs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since mid-2012, the government has requested the Gulf nation to hire skilled workers.

“The UAE is the first choice for Bangladeshi jobseekers. A good number of Bangladeshis working there are contributing to both countries' economic development,” said Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam yesterday.

He was talking to UAE Ambassador to Bangladesh Saeed bin Hajar Al Shehhi during a courtesy call by the latter at the minister's office in the capital's Probashi Kalyan Bhaban, said a ministry press release. The envoy assured discussing the issue with his government.

The UAE imposed the embargo allegedly over different malpractices of mainly brokers and private recruiting agencies, causing a significant drop in migration to the oil-rich country with the largest labour market for Bangladeshi jobseekers. Earlier, over 1 lakh Bangladeshis used to find jobs yearly. As per the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, some 14,000 migrants went there in 2013; 24,000 in 2014; 25,000 last year and 3,260 in the last four months this year.

Now, some skilled male workers are going. However, the UAE has emerged as the largest destination for female jobseekers, taking in over 13,000 in 2013; over 23,000 in 2014 and around 25,000 in 2015.

In the last four months this year, around 3,000 female migrants have also found jobs.

Officials at the ministry and Bangladesh embassy in Abu Dhabi hope that the market would be opened gradually.