Remittance inflow falls despite rise in labour migration

RMMRU study says

Despite a marked rise in the country’s lobour migration this year, its remittance flow has declined by about 11 per cent compared to the previous year, says a new study.
The study, which was carried out by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), reveals that Bangladesh earned remittance of US$ 12.65 billion up to November in 2016 while it was $ 15.11 billion in 2015, reports UNB.       
RMMRU founding chair Dr Tasneem Siddiqui presented the findings of the Annual Migration Trends Report-2016 (Patterns and Trends of Labour Migration 2016: Achievements and Challenges) at a press conference at Jatiya Press Club in the capital yesterday.
The report shows that maximum 18.98 per cent remittance of the country came from the Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA) while 17.88 percent from the United Arab Emirates, 14.34 per cent from the USA and 9.3 per cent from Malaysia.
Dr Tasneem said the remittance flow declined in 2016 due to the decline in the price of fuel oil in the Middle East, which cuts the job opportunity of Bangladesh workers, crisis in Syria and Iraq, and devaluation of British Pound and Malaysian Ringgit.
In 2016, the study shows, about 7.5 lakh Bangladeshi workers migrated to different countries, which is a 35 percent rise than the previous year. A total of 555,881 workers migrated abroad in 2015.
About female labour migration, it found that 108,769 women migrated to different countries in 2016, which is about 16 per cent of total migration. 
The female labour migration rate was 22.8 per cent in 2015.
 Quoting from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) information, the RAMMRU chairperson said around one crore Bangladeshis went abroad with jobs since 1976. 
She also said that a total of 1,038 recruiting agencies have been working with valid license in the country and 297 recruiting agencies usually send women workers, adding, BMET suspended 88 licenses of recruiting agency. 
”The recruiting agencies formulated a policy to ensure ethical recruitment, but no agency is yet to face any action by Recruiting Agencies Association,” Dr Tasneem said.
Pointing out Probashi Kallyan Bank’s activities, she said the bank disbursed loans amounting to Tk 54 crore 85 lakh against 5,212 overseas job seekers out of 6,88,869 through 55 branches between January and October this year. 
Dr Tasneem said 1,21,000 overseas job seekers received training on different categories from training centers under BMET across the country.
Replying to a question, she said the government established institute of marine technology, technical training centres and provisionary training offices aimed at providing training to make workers skilled.
Speaking at the press conference, eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik said illegal transfer of money from abroad to the country may be another reason behind the decline in remittance this year. Many people send money to the country from abroad through illegal channel, he added.

Remittance inflow falls despite rise in labour migration

RMMRU study says

Despite a marked rise in the countrys lobour migration this year, its remittance flow has declined by about 11 per cent compared to the previous year, says a new study. The study, which was carried out by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), reveals that Bangladesh earned remittance of US$ 12.65 billion up to November in 2016 while it was $ 15.11 billion in 2015, reports UNB. RMMRU founding chair Dr Tasneem Siddiqui presented the findings of the Annual Migration Trends Report-2016 (Patterns and Trends of Labour Migration 2016: Achievements and Challenges) at a press conference at Jatiya Press Club in the capital yesterday. The report shows that maximum 18.98 per cent remittance of the country came from the Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA) while 17.88 percent from the United Arab Emirates, 14.34 per cent from the USA and 9.3 per cent from Malaysia. Dr Tasneem said the remittance flow declined in 2016 due to the decline in the price of fuel oil in the Middle East, which cuts the job opportunity of Bangladesh workers, crisis in Syria and Iraq, and devaluation of British Pound and Malaysian Ringgit. In 2016, the study shows, about 7.5 lakh Bangladeshi workers migrated to different countries, which is a 35 percent rise than the previous year. A total of 555,881 workers migrated abroad in 2015. About female labour migration, it found that 108,769 women migrated to different countries in 2016, which is about 16 per cent of total migration. The female labour migration rate was 22.8 per cent in 2015. Quoting from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) information, the RAMMRU chairperson said around one crore Bangladeshis went abroad with jobs since 1976. She also said that a total of 1,038 recruiting agencies have been working with valid license in the country and 297 recruiting agencies usually send women workers, adding, BMET suspended 88 licenses of recruiting agency. The recruiting agencies formulated a policy to ensure ethical recruitment, but no agency is yet to face anyaction by Recruiting Agencies Association, Dr Tasneem said. Pointing out Probashi Kallyan Banks activities, she said the bank disbursed loans amounting to Tk 54 crore 85 lakh against 5,212 overseas job seekers out of 6,88,869 through 55 branches between January and October this year. Dr Tasneem said 1,21,000 overseas job seekers received training on different categories from training centers under BMET across the country. Replying to a question, she said the government established institute of marine technology, technical training centres and provisionary training offices aimed at providing training to make workers skilled. Speaking at the press conference, eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik said illegal transfer of money from abroad to the country may be another reason behind the decline in remittance this year. Many people send money to the country from abroad through illegal channel, he added.