Ordeals of expatiate workers

This was not the first time such allegations have been made by the Bangladeshi workers against their foreign employers. We don't have to look too far -- just about a week ago hundreds of Bangladeshi workers stormed the embassy in Kuwait when, according to them, the embassy failed to do anything about their pending wages for five months. Even in the case of Kabir and his coworkers, the embassy in Jordan allegedly did not do anything either. This is simply unacceptable. As it is, our workers go to extreme measures, like selling valuable possessions or borrowing from moneylenders with high interest to pay, for the much-sought after job in a foreign country, mainly in the hope that a better future would await them. But when the dream turns into nightmare, obviously their desperation knows no bounds.

The bottom line is that the terms of employment do not get fulfilled and they become victims of exploitation especially when there is no one to look after them. We fail to understand why our embassies and high commissions repeatedly fail to come to the rescue of these workers who, incidentally, are one of the highest foreign exchange earners of the country. It is a shame that we tend to remember them only when we calculate the cumulative amount they send from abroad, we do not even try to find out the kind of hardship and horrific ordeal they go through to send the money.

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We demand that the ministry concerned take up this matter more seriously than ever, so that fulfilment of terms of employment is ensured. We do not want to hear from another worker on his or her return that he/she was subjected to physical and mental torture in a foreign land.