Our workers in Jordan
The latest series of incidents centring around overseas Bangladeshi wage earners' demands has been reported from Jordan. They having resorted to strike since Sunday in an apparel factory protesting cutback in salaries and irregular payments were baton-charged and debarred entry into the premises.
We have stoutly defended the rights of our workers overseas, especially against the backdrop of highhanded actions in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia which resorted to deportation of workers. We have demanded compensation for the affected and suggested that our government take up the matter at the inter-state level for a durable settlement of the problems.
While constantly demanding action against fraudulent agencies that traded on the miseries of job seeking Bangladeshis, we stressed the need for our missions abroad to be proactive in attending to the problems of our workers.
The troubles that Bangladeshi workers are running into abroad should force some introspection in us rather than blaming it out squarely on others. While articulating our rights, it is important that proper channels be used and we are respectful of the law of the land we are working in. As for Jordan, workers do not have the right to strike. The first option before our workers were to take up the issue with the company management which we hope they had done. Failing this option, they should have reported the matter to the Bangladesh embassy in Amman. Going by our ambassador's version, they did not do so. Had they done so, the ambassador could take up the matter with the apparel company first and then depending on their lack of response could move with the labour ministry in the Jordanian government for a redress. According to reports, the ambassador is exactly pursuing this course now, but it seems if he had moved earlier on, the predicament could have been avoided.
The lesson we need to draw from all these and imbibe is that such adhocism is completely out of sync with the enormous contributions our migrant workers make to keep the wheels of the economy, of not only their mother country but also that of the host country, moving. Our foreign ministry and the missions abroad ought to change their mindset in dealing with the problems of the Bangladesh Diaspora from one of studied indifference to dynamic engagement to enhance their welfare through maintenance of rapport with the host countries.
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