Dhaka seeks end to Libyan visa forgery

Bangladesh is set to propose the Libyan embassy in Dhaka to send the visa information of Libya-bound Bangladeshi workers to the immigration at Hazrat Shahjalal (R) International Airport to check visa forgery.
"We will propose setting up a mechanism so that the Libyan embassy in Dhaka can forward the visa numbers of Bangladeshi workers online. This information will be provided to manpower bureau and the immigration at the airport," said Nurul Islam, director of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET).
A Libyan delegation comprised of officials from technical education and immigration is expected to visit Bangladesh July 14.
Early this year, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain led a delegation to Libya where both the countries agreed to work together to improve the labour migration management.
This visit of the Libyan delegation is a follow-up meeting where the strategies to check visa forgery are likely to top the agenda. BMET has already prepared a concept paper for the meeting.
Libya is an emerging labour market requiring around one million workers by 2014 for its booming construction sector. The oil-rich country, home to some 90,000 Bangladeshis, had been hiring on average over 2,000 workers per month from January 2008 till this April, which drastically halved in May-June.
Officials concerned identified visa forgery from Bangladesh end as the cause of it.
This year, Libya has deported 39 Bangladeshi workers while 88 in late last year. Some of them entered the country with fake visas while others without work permits.
Bangladesh's first secretary (labour) in Libya has recently told The Daily Star that around 40 Bangladeshi workers are now in jail there besides 31 recently released.
BMET Director Nurul Islam said the online connectivity would enable BMET to verify the visas approved by the Libyan embassy in Dhaka before issuing emigration clearance. Emigration clearance is a must for the jobseekers going abroad.
BMET welfare desk and immigration at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka can also verify the visas online when workers cross the immigration, he said.
"It will be an effective tool for stopping visa forgeries," Islam said, adding that Bangladesh government could even help develop software for the online connectivity, if Libya so desired.
Nurul Islam said during the visit of expatriates' welfare minister, Libya proposed that Bangladesh provide technical expertise for a training institute in Tripoli.
As per the decision, Libya will put in place necessary infrastructure, while Bangladesh will plan curriculum and send trainers to run the training centre where the Libyans and Bangladeshis could be trained to improve their vocational skills as required by Libya, said the official.
BMET has prepared a proposal in this regard, Islam said, adding, "We have good engineers who can train people there. Such a vocational institute could be a gesture of confidence in relationship between the two countries."