Editorial
Predictions of fall in remittances
Govt must work to prevent it
Remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas might fall over the next two years. And it could happen because of some recent actions taken by countries where we have traditionally exported our manpower. One does not need much wisdom to know how badly off we will all be if such conditions come to pass. Of late our manpower industry has been hit badly by government actions in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other places. While we realise that the governments of those countries have the right to formulate their own policies regarding migrant workers from abroad, we also feel that the Bangladesh government should by now have adopted a strong and constructive position regarding our people working there. It is also important that the host countries go through rethinking vis-à-vis their own migrant worker-related policies. It is equally important that any misgivings here be removed at the earliest.
There are at present about 5,000,000 Bangladeshis employed in various global spots; and of these, a rather large contingent of 3,000,000 work in the Middle East. All these people together have not only been helping their families and the country's economy but have also been instrumental in the economic activities of the host countries. Therefore, to be warned now that these figures might fall in the coming days should be a wake-up call for us. We must heed the warning. It is surely encouraging for government functionaries to speak to us of new employment opportunities abroad. But much more can be, or could have been, achieved if our existing manpower markets were properly and judiciously tapped. That has not happened, which is a pity. Even so, we think there is yet time for the government, through the foreign and overseas employment ministries, to undertake policies directed at ensuring a healthy presence of our workers in the Middle East and other places. Why the issue has not been handled properly in Malaysia is anyone's guess. Similarly, the situations that have lately arisen in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain (where a Bangladeshi worker was executed after conviction for murder) should have been swiftly and deftly headed off. That they were not was dampening in itself and may serve as a bad precedent for the future.
The imperative at this point is for us to devise a new and more effective strategy towards ensuring our manpower employment abroad. Obviously, such a strategy must take into consideration the security aspects of employment. But such a step presupposes important steps like establishing a database of Bangladeshis already employed abroad as also those scheduled to fly out on fresh jobs. It is important that at the diplomatic level, particularly through our embassies and high commissions, projections and studies be made of job prospects abroad. At the same time, a new dimension can be given to the overseas employment policy by shaping plans for the development of demand-driven skilled manpower resources for utilisation in the Middle East and elsewhere. Again, new markets for employment will have to be tapped.
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