The caretaker government announced a seven-point strategy to ensure the well-being of the Bangladeshi workers abroad and expand the manpower-export market worldwide by removing the prevailing hurdles, reports UNB. Foreign and Overseas Employment Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Wednesday announced the strategy, which includes exploring new manpower-export markets in the Scandinavian, European and East European countries like Norway, Sweden and Romania.

The strategy includes extension of the existing markets in the Middle-East, including Libya, enhancing skills in the English language, exporting manpower from Monga-affected areas, ensuring proper utilisation of remittances, ensuring strong monitoring to check fraud in manpower export, and working together with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Migration Organisation (IMO).

Speaking at a press briefing at the Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, the adviser said the government has adopted the strategy as it believes that the country’s prime foreign currency earnings would come from the manpower-export sector.

During the briefing, Overseas Employment secretary Abdul Matin Chowdhury noted that until September last, a total of 8,830 Bangladeshi citizens were in prisons in different countries across the world, either in police custody or under remand. Of them, 1,930 were convicted.

Of the convicts, the highest 636 Bangladeshi nationals are in Saudi jails.

Iftekhar Chowdhury said the Malaysian government is yet to convey any decision about suspending recruitment of Bangladeshi workers. “But, despite that, everyday, on an average, about 700 workers are leaving for Malaysia and the government is working on the issue so that the market could be resumed,” he said.

The caretaker government would deal with the manpower-export business in the new manpower markets taking lesson from Malaysian incidents, he informed. He also said a South Korean delegation is arriving in Dhaka on December 9 to discuss manpower import from Bangladesh.

He noted that an agreement would be signed between the Korean HRD and Bangladesh’s state-owned recruiting agency Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Service Limited (BOESL).

“Korea will recruit about 3,000 workers. Those who are now in Korea will get priority in recruitment as they have command on Korean language,” he added.

The diplomat-turned Adviser said a total of 526,171 Bangladeshi workers have gone abroad for jobs since the present caretaker government assumed office in January 2007.

He informed that a total of 764,903 workers were issued outgoing permits in last 11 months, of which 2,38,000 were waiting to fly. “This figure is the highest in any time in the history.”

The country received US$ 5.78 billion (Tk 40,323 crore) in remittance until November 22. “If the trend continues, the remittance flow will exceed US$ 6 billion,” the Adviser said.

BSS adds: Iftekhar also said the government will also introduce a strict system to monitor manpower recruiting agencies so that none of them could cheat people seeking employment abroad. The government already took action against Kabir Enterprise, for wrongdoings, but its licence was yet to be cancelled, he informed adding that for their misconduct punitive action was also taken against some officials at the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia.

The government, if required, would bring back the 49 Bangladeshis agitating in front of Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur as they did not get the jobs they were promised, he said replying to a question. The government was aware, he said, replying to a question, that some people were acting against Bangladesh’s interest in Malaysia.

Action would be taken against such elements in due course, he mentioned. The question of withdrawal of Malaysian ban on Bangladeshi manpower was being discussed by the two governments, he told a questioner.