27 September 2014, Prothom Alo Bangladesh
Representatives of international recruiting agencies in the country on Saturday stressed better coordination among the government, recruiting agencies and international organisations for improving the labour migration process.
They came up with the call at a meeting, titled ‘Ensuring Safe Migration: Role of Baira’, arranged by Baira with the support of International Organization for Migration (IOM) at BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka.
Speaking at the meeting, Baira senior vice president Ali Haider Chowdhury noted that it takes at least two months to send a lobour from Bangladesh to the recipient country, whereas India, the Philippines and Pakistan are able to complete the lobour migration process within 10-15 days.
Difficulties at the government level combined with the lack of correct information flow to the aspirant workers and the abundance of fraud recruitment by a vicious cycle of agents are the major reasons for the lengthy labour migration process, he added.
Expatriate’s Welfare and Oversees Employment secretary Khondaker Showkat Hossain urged Baira to work on a long term plan to send skilled workers instead of less skilled or unskilled workers to meet the future demands of the developed world.
Executive director of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) C R Abrar said there is a big communication gap between aspirant migrants and recruiting agencies which can be reduced through ensuring the appropriate information flow.