BANGLADESH remains one of the top few countries to send migrants to join the international labour market, but remittance earnings compared with the number of migrants abroad are low. The International Organisation for Migration in a report published on May 7 mentioned that Bangladesh remains the sixth largest migrant exporting country, among others, but ranks the eighth in remittance earnings. Remittances to Bangladesh declined slightly as the figure fell from $21.75 billion in 2020 to $21.50 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, Bangladeshis accounted for 12 per cent of migrants who died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2022. While experts appreciate the government鈥檚 role in developing the Global Compact for Migration for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration adopted by the United Nations in 2018, they express concern at the continued irregular migration and the government鈥檚 failure to protect workers rights in destination countries. A record 4,552 migrant workers returned home dead in 2023.
Successive governments have so far been more focused on maintaining access to the global labour market than ensuring worker鈥檚 well-being abroad. There are talks about eliminating exploitative intermediaries in recruitment, but the government鈥檚 words have never been translated into action. The experience of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia or Saudi Arabia proves this point. In January, at least 205 workers were detained as they became unemployed and undocumented because their employment was not extended in due time or their recruitment papers were fake. The initial investigation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry in Malaysia that time confirmed that a human trafficking syndicate was exploiting migrant workers with the promise of dignified jobs. Corruption in the labour migration system is not only a threat to worker鈥檚 well-being, but it also hurts remittance earnings. Undocumented workers are left with no choice but to send money home through illicit channels and for many, hundi is the only way to make transactions. The widening gap between official and unofficial exchange rates for the dollar, however, is also named as a reason for lower remittances and higher transactions through illegal means. There are also allegations that the labour wings of embassies are unfriendly towards workers and do not have a mechanism to respond to emergencies, medical or legal, for survivors of abusive work environment or sexual violence.
It is unacceptable that the Bangladeshi workers who are the victims of this corrupt labour migration system pay the price while the economy is deprived of remittance earnings. The government must, under the circumstances, take effective steps to eliminate exploitative intermediaries in the recruitment process and judiciously investigate human trafficking syndicates exploiting migrant workers. The government must, at the same time, improve the services of labour wings of embassies so that they are better equipped to respond to migrants in crisis. It must immediately begin diplomatic negotiations with destination countries and demand that they should decriminalise immigration offences and use non-detention solutions to address root causes 鈥� taking action against errant employers for their labour rights violations.