|
|
Change Your Life! |
Bangladesh opts for global free-flow of labor |
|
News
|
|
|
August 30, 2000
Dhaka (UNB) – The Government of Bangladesh, which sent more than 3 million workers abroad since 1976, has sought free flow of labour across the globe to share the benefits of globalisation, saying “free flow of labour cannot remain blocked.” “It is quite inconsistent and self contradictory. With the free flow of commodities and capital we want the free flow of labour force from one country to another in the interest of overall sustainable global development.” The view of the government came in a country paper submitted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment at the two-day APC South Asian Sub-Regional meeting that began at a city hotel yesterday (Tuesday). Labour and Employment Minister MA Mannan formally inaugurated the meeting, organised jointly by the Bangladesh government, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Inter-governmental Asia-Pacific Consultations on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants (APC) Secretariat. IOM deputy director general Ndioro Ndiaye, APC coordinator Ittiporn Boonpracong and Labour and Employment secretary Sirajul Islam also spoke at the meeting. The Labour ministry’s country paper said that in the age of globalisation, the migrant labours are also the global partners in development. “They must have a due consideration and share of the benefits of globalisation.” It mentioned that in the backdrop of the present condition of the international labour market, the drive for the integration through wider trade liberalisation, increased investment flow and enhanced access to communication have created new promise of economic and social development. Since 1976, some 3,011,890 people migrated from Bangladesh till June 2000 to different countries, including Saudi Arabia, Korea, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Singapore, Oman and Bahrain. Besides, some 150,000 Bangladeshi workers were legalised in Malaysia in 1997. During the 1990’s Gulf War, about 63,303 Bangladeshi workers returned home from Kuwait and Iraq. Bangladesh, rich in human resources, presently has 2 million workers abroad. The labour force and the population have been increasing annually at 1.8 and 1.5 per cent respectively. In Bangladesh, about 13 million people constituting nearly 35 per cent of the total labour force now remain either unemployed or under-unemployed. Migration of Bangladesh labour started to the United Kingdom and few other western countries some 35 years ago. The country entered the labour market of the Middle East in 1976 with 6,078 workers. At present, more than 40 per cent of the Bangladesh workforce in various countries, particularly in the Middle East and in Malaysia, are unskilled while semi-skilled workers account for 20 per cent. The rest of the migrant work force comprised skilled workers, and professionals and semi-professionals. The remittance from expatriate workers, a major benefit of the labour export, makes significant contribution to the Gross National Product (GNP) as well as in financing the balance of payments deficit. It constitutes 30 per cent of export earning and about 20 per cent of the import payment. But manpower export is still facing a lot of problems even in this age of globalisation. These include retention of passport by the employers, contract substitutions, irregular or non-payment of wages violating contractual obligations like providing food, medical and accommodation facilities. Pre-mature termination of contracts, maltreatment and manhandling of workers by the management personnel and undue delay in payment of compensation in death and accident cases also pose a major setback in manpower export. Addressing the inaugural function, Labour and Manpower Minister MA Mannan said contract labour migration cause many social problems affecting both the worker and his/her family left behind. He called for evolving some mechanism to curb these problems. |