Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given directives to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment to make the process of manpower export more precise and transparent.
She asked the concerned ministry to carry out a massive campaign in different media to create awareness and save aspirant migrant workers from fraudulence.
She also suggested that aspiring migrant workers take a loan from Probashi Kallyan Bank instead of selling their properties to bear migration costs.
The instructions were given at the cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister yesterday at the secretariat. She joined the meeting virtually from the Gono Bhaban.
Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam later briefed journalists.
At the meeting, it was discussed that worker’s should be asked to not make excess payments and keep in touch with the expatriates’ welfare ministry and its offices at the district level.
Influenced by brokers, many aspiring migrants unknowingly make payment after selling their property. Therefore, it is suggested they take a loan from the Probashi Kallyan Bank instead of selling their assets, Anwarul said.
Some examples of exploitations were also pointed out at the cabinet discussion.
There are instances that migrant workers had to spend Tk three to four lakh to go to Malaysia and unfortunately returned with empty pockets. They even failed to recover their investment.
During the press briefing, the cabinet secretary also pointed out probable content of the campaign.
“We will make migrants aware of who are the authorities [they need to keep contact with] and what is the migration cost. We will tell them that if they need money, then they should take a loan from the Probashi Kallyan Bank,” he said, adding that the bank will not give a loan without an appointment letter.
“The benefit of taking a loan from the bank is that it will not make the payment before the appointment is confirmed. They [migrants] will be on the safe side.”
Responding to a question, he said the bank will deduct the loan from the migrant worker’s salary.
It will also communicate with the respective firm to check whether due diligence was maintained during recruitment.
Besides, Hasina has given directives to publicise the manpower crisis at home.
“About 100 industrial parks are being built in the country. We’ll require millions of workers,” he said, adding the PM asked to take steps on building the capacity of workers to meet the manpower crisis.
“Workers can [also] earn a handsome amount of money at home.”