Bitter Truth
The plight of migrant workers must be looked into
LURED by the promise of lucrative job offers, big money and better future, thousands of Bangladeshis have fallen victims to the unscrupulous brokers and fake manpower agents. Many of these illegal migrants have perished while crossing the rough seas and others have seen their dreams shattered by the cruel hand of fate. Many of them after being arrested by the police are passing their days in pain.
Over the years more workers have gone abroad and remittances to the extent of about US $6 billion every year earned by about 5 million Bangladeshis living abroad have flown in. Alongside the hardship of the workers, their pathetic state of living and deprivation of many aspirants also have come to public attention.
Liton and his cousin brother Hamid of Ashulia near Dhaka had to sell their ancestral land, their last resources, to pay Tk 1,80,000.00 each to a recruiting agent for a job in Malaysia . The payment only ensured their passage to Malaysia . As soon as they reached Kuala Lumpur , the ordeal began.
For the past one decade some places in Bangladesh namely Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and even the remotest villages like Chokoria of Chittagong and Meherpur of Kushtia have become busy recruiting centres for people seeking their fortune abroad. Every month hundreds of young men like Liton and Abdul Hamid -- all of them unemployed and mostly from low income families take foreign route with dreams of finding better jobs and making better money. While some strike it rich, many end up in hell holes, only to get deported to their home country as paupers. And yet others like the 11 Bangladeshis who perished in the boat tragedy in 2005 off the coast of Morocco meet an even crueler fate.
It is also the get-rich-quick dream which fuels the vast network of manpower recruiting agents and brokers, many of them fake but notoriously emboldened to run this trafficking business because they enjoy the patronage of a group of law enforcers, passport and immigration personnel and airport staff, as pointed out by the members of the Task Force that visited Malaysia after a series of reports relating to harassment of Bangladeshi workers. Also terrible working condition, low wages, and in some cases non payment of wages were revealed by the frustrated returnees to the officials of the Ministry of Manpower and Overseas Employment.
As reports reveal in recent time more than 400 labourers are being detained in different shelters in Malaysia, some of them are staying with other migrant workers already there after their passports and work permits were snatched away by the recruiting agency personnel because they protested about the non-fulfilment of the conditions like job, pay and shelter as laid down in the contract paper.
Reports published in the dailies on May 28 last indicated that Shamsul Alam of Kutubpur village in the district of Lakshmipur paid Tk.2,70,000.00 to recruiting agent after borrowing from different sources. Ironically, payment of such a hefty sum of money ensured his journey up to Kuala Lumpur . This far and no farther. After his arrival in the land of hope, he was taken to a health centre and an X'ray of his lungs was taken. The mould report declared him unfit to resume work in Malaysia, but was not handed over to him. He and the members of his group who failed to get any job as per contract moved to several factories as illegal workers but the terrible working condition, 16 hours work-day, non-payment of wages for the period he and 47 members of his batch worked in different factories shattered them physically and mentally.
Shamsul Alam returned to Bangladesh after staying in Malaysia for about 2 months and a half. He has lodged a complaint to the Ministry of Overseas Employment asking for return of the fees he paid to the recruiting agent.
The plight of 32 young men of Meherpur and 70 such aspiring migrant workers of Dhunat of Bogra is sadder still. While the young men from Meherpur paid Tk. 1,85,000.00 each to the recruiting agency through a broker, only 18 of them could avail the trip to Malaysia, 32 of them are moving from door to door for the last six months without any hope of getting ticket and visa for the host country, rather they are being reportedly threatened with dire consequences should they pressurize for getting the money back or complain to higher authorities. Those 70 young men from Dhunat could however reach Malaysia , but they are passing their days in the host country without work, food and shelter.
True, after the Middle East dream vanished in recent years, many young men have drifted towards Malaysia despite the horrifying stories of harassed and traumatized Bangladeshis still living there. Sadly true, Malaysia in an effort to check the flow of Bangladeshi workers, for reasons not known, has put stringent immigration formalities in the airport and even afterwards. They now check finger prints along with photographs after verifying the visa. The workers on their arrival are put up together, sometimes 30-40 in one room by the agent till all the paper works is completed in the host country for the worker to begin with the job. Meanwhile a report appearing in The Daily Star on June 26 quoting Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News indicated that 45 migrant workers, mostly from Bangladesh were deprived of their dues by Nukhba, a Saudi Arabian Medical Services company and are stranded in the kingdom now without money and legal papers such as release paper since their contract expired in 2006. From Malaysia to UAE to Saudi Arabia , it's a long story of mistreatment and harassment of our men by the foreign employers with really no one to mitigate their suffering or speak for them.
While some of these hapless youth are carpenters, masons, plumbers, drivers or cooks, a majority comprise unskilled labourers with moderate education, and some even have university degrees. Mamun and Hanif had graduated from a college in Khulna but, as it is the case with millions of Bangladeshi youths, these educated youths could not find any suitable job in the country to eke out a living. The prospect of good income and a comfortable living after a few years' stay in a foreign country is irresistible, and they become easy prey to brokers. With organizational headquarters in Dhaka , these brokers swoop down on gullible youths in villages.
Reports have it that some recruiting agencies operating a clandestine recruiting business as early as in 2001 in collusion with some officials in the government circles have so far sent thousands of young men to different countries who are now languishing in different jails in those countries. The recent investigation by the Task Force has identified at least 18 recruiting agents who are involved in this corruption racket in collusion with some members of Bangladesh Migrant Workers Welfare Association in Malaysia and a section of officials of Bangladesh Embassy in Malaysia . The smuggling of illegal migrants is a thriving few hundred crore taka a year business. On an average, a few thousand youth are illegally sent to different countries every month through a well-knit network of shady recruiting agents who have links with local touts and international syndicate.
Undeniably true, remittances earned by migrant workers account for a major chunk of foreign currency reserves boosting the economy and contributing to the development of the country. Yet the travails of the migrant workers are many, starting from the heavy burden of agency fees to fraud to poor working conditions to unfriendly environment that make their lives harder and harder.
It is also undeniably true that unstable political situation in the country, closure of once vibrant industries like jute and consequent lack of employment opportunities have propelled them to flee the country in search of jobs and better living elsewhere.
But when it is linked with the national economy, just and right conditions reasonably must prevail for them everywhere. The government must do everything possible to ensure this much for the migrant workers.
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