1 lakh aspirant migrant workers in uncertainty

An estimated 1 lakh migrant workers could not travel for overseas jobs in the last two months due to the coronavirus outbreak, a top leader of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) said yesterday.

As a result, the country's recruiting agencies have to incur a loss of about Tk 2,000 crore, said Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, secretary general of Baira.

"We have about 1 lakh visas in our hands… a huge investment of us remains frozen. We couldn't recover the money as we couldn't send the workers," he told this newspaper by phone.

He said that the recruiting agencies have to shut their offices because of the outbreak.

This put some 32,000 employees of about 1,600 recruiting agencies in uncertainty, he said, adding that they invested money on various purposes including as deposit against workers' visas and to buy their plane tickets in advance.

Meanwhile, following Baira's appeal to the prime minister, the expatriates' welfare ministry has decided to give each recruiting agency 50 percent of their deposited money to the ministry against their licenses as "repayable grant" for one year, said the Baira leader.

Shameem said they are expecting to recover the loss once labour recruitment by foreign countries resumes. He also thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Expatriates' Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad for the initiative.

The money will be given to meet staff wages and office rent, said a PID handout, quoting an office order of the expatriates' welfare ministry.

The expatriates' welfare ministry issued the order on Tuesday.

As per the order, recruiting agencies have to apply before the director general of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training to withdraw 50 percent of the deposited money.

With the application, the agencies have to provide an "undertaking" in a Tk 300 non-judicial stamp citing that they will return the money within a year.

Recruiting licenses will be revoked if any agency fails to return the money, the order said.

Shameem said recruiting agencies usually deposit security money of different amounts against their licenses for different categories such as for sending female migrant workers.

There is a license category for sending workers country-wise like for Japan or Singapore, he said. This deposited money can be up to more than Tk 60 lakh for an agency, he added.

He said considering the situation, Baira applied for 75 percent of the deposit as grant for two years. On the other hand, the ministry agreed to give 50 percent which can be refunded in one year without interest.