Dhaka Bureau: Apprehension about the Bangladeshi labor market abroad is not abating. The Malaysian market is hanging on to syndicate complications. Nepal is taking advantage of the uncertain market. There is also a crisis in the Saudi Arabian market. There, the Rohingya issue has come to the fore. Among the good news from the Middle East countries, 20 European countries are looking for new labor markets for Bangladeshi workers. The process of sending workers to these countries has already started. Workers are also going to markets in Qatar and Korea. The Libyan market is also promising. Many people are dreaming about the opening of the Argentine embassy. Even if the shock of remittance fluctuates, there is no relief.
It is known that an agreement was signed between the governments of Greece and Bangladesh on February 9, 2022, for safe immigration and employment of Bangladeshi workers in Greece, a European country on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This is the first agreement to take Bangladeshi workers to the labor market of any European country. Under this, the Greek government will provide a 5-year visa for Bangladeshi workers in the country’s agriculture, tourism, and garment sectors. Four thousand Bangladeshi workers will go to the country every year. Eastern European countries are Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova. These countries have opened the doors of employment for Bangladeshi workers in construction, shipbuilding, the agriculture sector, factories, the garment industry, caregiving, and the restaurant industry. According to the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment, Romania has given visas to 16,409 Bangladeshi workers from 2020 to 2022. In the meantime, the country has also opened a temporary consulate in Dhaka.
In this context, the secretary of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment Ahmed Moniruch Salehin said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Welfare is working to capture the European labor market as an alternative to the Middle East. Twenty countries in Europe are now a new labor market for us. He also said, “Greece has initiated, and we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). New workers can easily move into the country.
It is also being talked about in Italy. Many Bengalis live in that country; they also talk about taking seasonal workers. Malta is also looking to hire workers in the same way. In addition, there is a demand for workers from other countries. He said that efforts are being made to sign the JTUZ agreement with Germany, and in order to cut the dependence on the Middle East, workers have already been sent to Moldova, Serbia, Yugoslavia, Albania, Croatia, and Malta. The Manpower Employment and Training Bureau said that the government is making efforts to sign bilateral agreements, memorandums of understanding, and JTUJI agreements with other countries, including Italy, to recruit skilled workers.
Director General of BMET in this regard. Shahidul Alam said people are going to Bosnia and Herzegovina; they are also going to Romania. Italy was also supposed to give an opportunity to hire temporary workers, meaning to hire seasonal workers. He said that since there is currently no official agreement for the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh to Germany, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment is trying to sign a JTUG agreement with the German government to get the benefits of the country’s labor market.
On the other hand, after going abroad, there is a negative impact on sending manpower to Saudi Arabia, the main labor market of Bangladesh, after many complaints have been raised, such as spending a life of unemployment in a complicated situation, not paying salaries properly against the company owner, and sometimes torturing employees in trivial incidents. It can be said that foreign workers have turned away from the country. Compared to the month of January 2022, the number of workers going to Saudi Arabia in January this year has decreased by almost half. Although the total number of overseas workers has exceeded one lakh, Among them, the rate of workers going to Oman, one of the countries in the Middle East, has increased relatively, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.
According to the statistics of the Manpower Employment Bureau, 42 thousand and 697 people (male and female) went to work in Saudi Arabia in January this year. But last year, at the same time, 71 thousand and 172 workers went to the country. In comparison, the country’s labor migration rate has almost halved. Compared to last year, the rate of laborers going to Oman has increased this year. In January of this year, 17 thousand 694 workers went to the country. On the other hand, 14 thousand and 515 people went to work in the same period of 2022. There is no new news in the Singapore market either.
