BANGLADESH:PROMOTINGSAFEMIGRATION

In the last few years, increased remittance flow has been contributing to the economic development of Bangladesh. Remittances, migration and development are interrelated as they are all relevant to the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of

sustainable development (World Bank, 2010). Compared to the other developing countries of South Asia, Bangladesh has fared relatively well in two out of five indicators in the Migration Governance Index 2016, released by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Bangladesh has secured enviable successes in achieving the United Nation’s (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). If Bangladesh wants to replicate its MDG’s successes as regards the newly formulated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), then it must appropriately address the outstanding issues of migration. Many policies have already been incorporated which reflects the willingness of policy planners and stakeholders to place migration in a national policy agenda. As the current chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), Bangladesh has adopted certain measures to ensure safer migration.

The Awami League government has declared the labour migration sector as a ‘thrust sector’. Therefore, government and civil society of Bangladesh have initiated many steps for ensuring good governance in labour migration within and beyond South Asia. It has played a significant role in dealing with refugee issues as well by working in cooperation with relevant international agencies.

This brief report highlights the policies and steps that have been taken by the Awami League government to ensure safe migration and rights of refugees.

Smart Card initiated for labour migrants

More training institutions for skilled and semi-skilled labour

Accelerated remittance management and banking

Migration health facilities broadened, such as insurance

Financial assistance up to $4000 to family members of deceased migrants

Successful MOUs with Kuwait, Jordan, UAE, Oman , Qatar, Iraq, Malaysia

Set up labor market research cell under Ministry

42 BMET offices set up to provide services to migrants at the grassroots level.

16 labour wings in 14 countries with 24 labour attachés engaged as counselors

Expansion Of Labor Market

The Middle East is a major destination for Bangladeshi workers. But the recent political unrest in the region has caused a decrease in the number of migrant laborers. In this scenario, Bangladesh is exploring new labor markets to stabilize the remittance inflow. The current Awami League government has recently signed a deal with Malaysia to export labor under government management as well as private recruiting agencies. Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment has already set up a labour market research cell. This step resulted in the expansion of Bangladesh’s labour market to 63 countries including Hong Kong, Jordan, Angola, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Canada, Sweden, and South Africa.

Exporting Labor Through G2G

Current Awami League government has taken up several initiatives for promoting overseas work and thereby encourage legal and sustainable outward migration:

• The government is sending housemaids to Jordan free of cost. The employer has to bear the travelling cost as well as the living cost of the laborer.

• Processes are undergoing to send women laborers to Jordan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Middle East.

• The government is sending workers to South Korea at a cost of only US$ 865.

STEPS TAKEN FOR PROMOTING SAFE AND EFFECTIVE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT

BANGLADESH’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN MIGRATION

Expatriates’ Welfare Bank

The present Awami League government has opened a specialized bank in 2011, ‘Expatriates’ Welfare Bank’, to help those who are willing to work abroad and those who seek new employment abroad after returning from one. The bank has disbursed US$ 5.3 million as migration loan and US$ 190,000 as rehabilitation loan in 2015.

Welfare of Overseas Workers

The government is ensuring complete assistance for the workers whoever falls in distress in the employing countries. These assistances range from support in sending workers abroad safely to support in bringing the deceased migrant workers home. The government also ensures that the families of the deceased workers are compensated by the employers.

Immigration Modernization

To put a stop to the harassment of migrant workers by the recruiting agencies and eliminate the influence of middlemen, current Awami League government has initiated registering information including the biometric data of the workers on a database. Smart card has been introduced for providing immigration certificate using the database. The record of the smart card and the automated printing of the embarkation cards have significantly reduced the harassment of the workers.

Reducing Migration Costs

The government has introduced “Overseas Employment and Migration Law, 2013” to ensure transparency and accountability of the recruiting agencies and to reduce the cost of migration. This law has provisions for imprisonment and fine for the crooked recruiting agencies or those who charge an illegally high price for migration. In addition, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Policy 2016 has been formulated, modernizing the policy of 2006.

GOVERNANCE FOR SAFE MIGRATIONInternational labour migration has been an integral part of Bangladesh’s development since the late 70’s. With a view to institutionalizing the migration process and ensure proper governance, Bangladesh has established several government bodies to formulate adequate policies and implement them properly.

Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment: This Ministry was established in 2001 with the objective to ensure the welfare of the expatriate workers and enhancement of overseas employment with a principle of equal opportunity for the people of all areas of the country.

Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET): The Bureau, established in 1976, provides institutional training through Technical Training Centers, emigration clearance to the migrant workers, maintains computer database network for the migrant workers regulate and monitor licenses of Recruiting Agencies.

Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESL): BOESL is the only state-owned manpower exporting company in Bangladesh. Its main objective is to explore new labor markets and to ensure safe labor migration with minimum cost.

Government Bodies

Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment

Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET)

Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESL)

Policies

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Em-ployment Policy, 2016

7th Five Year Plan 2016-21

Overseas Employment And Migration Act, 2013

Overseas Employment Policy 2013

Skills Development Policy 2011

6th Five Year Plan 2011-15

Perspective Plan 2010-21

POLICY MEASURES FOR MIGRATIONThree triggering facts working behind the migration policy concerns, namely: prevent illegal migration and facilitate safe migration, welfare of overseas workers and strict management of trafficking issues. Potential contribution of migration in development perspectives has been acknowledged by many national policies and planning. Some of the important national policies formulated by the government of Bangladesh are-

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Policy, 2016

The Policy has put emphasis on six policy directions which are encouraging and ensuring safe migration, protection of migrant workers and their family members, ensuring facilities

MIGRATION GOVERNANCE

and welfare of migrant workers, migration of female workers, associating migration with national development and proper planning for labour migration. The citizen’s charter promoted particular chapter on female worker migration.

Seventh Five Year Plan (SFYP) 2016-2021

The Seventh FYP is concerned with promoting labour migration, especially from lagging districts, improving the skills base for the development of new overseas labour market opportunities, and ensuring the protection of migrant workers’ human and labour rights.

Overseas Employment And Migration Act, 2013

With a view to ensuring legitimate and safe migration and migrants’ workers’ rights, the Act makes provisions for compulsory registration, electronic manpower clearance (smartcard), accountability and responsibility of recruiting agencies and evaluation of their activities. Procedures and punishments have been introduced for prevention of illegal activities by middlemen/broker, recognition of victim of frauds and legal aid mechanisms.

Overseas Employment Policy 2013

The revised policy of 2013 mainly focuses on creating more scope for men and women so that they can work independently with dignity and recognition. The Policy proposes seven sections and six of them directly deal with issues, concerns and policy directions in the following areas: promoting and ensuring safe migration, protection of migrant workers and their family members, benefits and welfare of the migrant workers, migration of

women workers, integration of migration with national development and labour migration governance.

National Skills Development Policy- 2011

The Policy acknowledges prompt response to the global labour demands and to arrange more skilled based training (registered with BTEB-Bangladesh Technical Education Board) to meet internal skilled and semi-skilled labour demands, pre-departure orientation training and more importantly communication with the returning migrant to assess the skilled gained overseas.

Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP) 2011-2015

The policy highlighted remittance as the key factor of development and formed a new overseas employment strategy which focused on semi-skilled and skilled manpower training and development.

Perspective Plan 2010-2021 (To achieve Vision 2021)

To reach the status of a middle-income country by 2021, 12 specific development goals were incorporated in the Perspective Plan, four of which are directly associated with migration.

The government has collaborated of drawing system of foreign exchange houses with commercial banks to send the money directly to beneficiaries. There are 1,100 drawing systems in operation;

To reduce the money transfer fee and exchange rate margin, commercial banks have been instructed not to exercise the conditions like Pay Cash Exclusivity Clause in the deals between the bank and multinational money exchange companies. It ensures a healthy competition among the money transfer companies.

A policy has been implemented to introduce foreign exchange houses of Bangladeshi commercial banks in foreign countries. Currently, 34 foreign exchange houses of Bangladeshi banks are currently operating in countries like United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Greece, Italy, Canada, Oman and Maldives.

Besides, branches of 27 microfinance institutions and Bangladesh Post Office have been given approval for sending remittance. These institutions are working as the money transferring agencies in rural parts of Bangladesh.

To expand the remittance distribution network, the Awami League government has given approval to 24 commercial banks to distribute remittances through mobile operators. Currently, 18 banks have mobile banking facility.

To speed up the flow of remittance distribution, the highest time limit in drawing system has been reduced to 2 days from 3 days in distributing money to beneficiary level.

To encourage investments from non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB), the current government has provided license to three NRB banks. These banks have already started operating in the country.

REMITTANCE INFLOW AND WORKERS ABROAD TILL SEPTEMBER, 2016

ENCOURAGING REMITTANCE INFLOW

Number of Workers Source: Bangladesh Bank

Remittance Inflow In million USD, Source: Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET)

REFUGEES IN BANGLADESHBangladesh became a refugee-hosting country in 1992 by accepting Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The country is party to major human rights instruments and strives to ensure compliance with them at all times. Bangladesh is currently also hosting thousands of stranded Pakistanis, also known as ‘Biharis” in several designated areas in the country. In 2008, a landmark Supreme Court decision granted nationality to almost 300,000 Urdu-speaking minorities. A large percentage of adults from this population were registered to vote in the 2009 election.

According to data from the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR) updated till June 2016, the country currently hosts some 32,984 documented Rohingyas living in two camps in the coastal city of Cox’s Bazar and another 300,000 to 500,000 undocumented ones outside. The practices of the country, vis-a-vis refugees, was recently lauded by the Country Chief of the UNHCR Stina Ljungdell who expressed satisfaction over the state of refugees in Bangladesh, saying it was among countries having the “best practices” (6 June 2016).

Among these practices include having a joint database of the government and UNHCR which became effective from June 2014 and removed the previously existing discrepancies in records. Secondary level informal education has been introduced for the two Cox’s Bazar camps from January 2014. In addition, policewomen have been deployed inside the camps from September 2014 to enhance security, especially for women and children. The government is also working to ensure safe record keeping of new born children by issuing them with their national birth identity documents.

Bangladesh: Promoting Safe Migration Published by Centere for Research and Information, September 2016

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BANGLADESH:PROMOTINGSAFEMIGRATION