 [ ] 2012-02-27 |
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5,000 migrant workers return in 2 months |
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Deportation for overstay dents country image
Rabiul Islam:
In the first two months of 2012, more than 5,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers were deported from different countries mainly for failure to get legalised their status after long overstay and violation of migration rules.
The Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) statistics show that 5,200 migrant workers returned home from various destinations, including the Middle East. Of the total, 3,200 were deported in January and around 2,000 till February 26.
An official of BMET, a government organization dealing with the migration issues, said after staying illegally for long or for violation of migration-related laws and involvement in crimes, the migrant workers were deported from different countries.
The official said, for example, some people go to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah do not return. As a result, they become illegal. And if the Saudi authorities can detect and capture them, they are usually deported through out-pass, said the official.
An official concerned said it is in no way good for the country as every year thousands of Bangladeshis are being deported from various countries, damaging their personal as well as country reputation. This also creates image crisis for the nation abroad and hinders drive for manpower-market expansion in prospective countries, the official added.
Another official of BMET said around 7.6 million Bangladeshi workers have been staying abroad and sending a handsome amount of their hard-earned money, which is one of the country’s largest sources of foreign currency.
The official mentioned that many workers usually change their employment, employers and become illegal while some others become illegal after expiry of their contract period. But, in most of the cases, they never return voluntarily to make their status legal or take measures for legalization of their status. “That is a big problem as it ultimately taints the country image,” the official added.
The official also said the number of deportees could not be reduced to zero until the number of illegal workers comes down to zero.
Another source at BMET said the government has no scheme for the deportees to go back or do something at home.
According to BMET statistics, around 40,000 workers were deported from different countries in 2011 alone.
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