Woes of Migrant Workers
There seems no end to the misery of migrant Bangladeshi workers. Only last Thursday we wrote in these columns about the plight of workers at the BMET, Dhaka and we write again on a poignant story published in The Daily Star the same day. In the absence of adequate employment opportunity at home a large number of local youths - educated, half educated, skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled - try for jobs in the developing and developed countries in Asia and Europe. They are required to apply for jobs through authorised recruiting agents, and most of them have to do this through a class of touts known as middlemen who usually cheat the simple and ordinary job-seekers before they are even introduced to the recruiting agents. Their tale of woe starts right with the touch of the touts.
Often the job-seekers are made to pay a lot of money for ordinary jobs which are neither secured nor well-paid. Examples are not few where the breach of contract by the agent and/or the middlemen was detected when the time for payment arrived. The example of Singapore has been cited by Dr Meheraj, one of the two teachers of National University of Singapore while talking to The Daily Star reporter. Similar examples can be cited about other countries also as thousands of Bangladeshi workers are cheated by the organised gang of middlemen and their principals in Singapore. Another way of cheating these simpletons is the fake or tampered travel and employment documents that normally land them in trouble on arrival at Singapore. The racket has grown so vicious that visa restrictions have been imposed on Bangladeshi passport holders by the Singapore government out of exasperation. This has not only made travel to Singapore difficult but also created an adverse impression about Bangladesh.
We thank the two Bangladeshi teachers from Singapore for their initiative and drive in finding out a solution to this vexing problem. We believe they have been able to forge some sort of unity among the BMET, NGOs and the local press for promoting awareness among the migrant workers about these problems. The suggestion for a separate queue at the ZIA for migrant workers is thoughtful and its acceptance by the PM is praiseworthy. BMET as the concerned organisation for migrant workers of the country should play a more positive and active role in safeguarding the interest of the migrant workers who form an important class of our work force.
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