Eliminating middlemen from the migrant worker’s life
The prime minister's words regarding the need to protect migrant workers from middlemen, who often cheat them, hit the nail on the head. We all know of the harrowing tales of migrant workers being cheated of huge sums of money by the middlemen who have promised lucrative jobs which either did not exist or paid much lower than promised. Many prospective migrant workers have taken on hazardous journeys because of such promises, either perishing in the seas or ending up in exploitative employment or in foreign jails. Women migrant workers have been subjected to physical and sexual abuse falling prey to such middlemen. Thus, there is an immediate need to take necessary steps so that the rights of Bangladeshi migrant workers are protected and they are treated with respect and dignity both at home and abroad.
The PM has mentioned some of the measures that, if taken and continued, would significantly reduce the number of migrant workers who are swindled or exploited. One of them is have a stronger monitoring system which includes a database with details of all migrant workers. But in order to completely eliminate the insidious reach of middlemen at many stages of the whole process, recruiting syndicates and brokers at home and in the recruiting countries have to be exposed and punished, regardless of their connections with the existing power structure.
We sincerely hope that the directives given by the PM will be taken seriously and an effective system will be created to offset the control and power of middlemen who hike up the cost of recruitment process and leave migrant workers vulnerable to all kinds of exploitation. Our embassies in the recruiting countries should be instructed and equipped to play a more proactive role in helping migrant workers who are in trouble because of fraud. The PM's emphasis on creating skilled manpower is also something that is of great importance, and we hope the government will create opportunities for prospective migrant workers to acquire skills that will help them get better paying jobs abroad.
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