No worry for Bangladeshi workers in Qatar: Minister

The crisis in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar will not affect the Bangladesh labour market in Qatar, expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment minister Nurul Islam said yesterday.
The ministry’s secretary, Begum Shamsun Nahar, echoed the minister’s assurance, saying, “We deal with our labour markets individually and thus the market in Qatar would not be affected.”
Saudi Arabia has recently severed diplomatic ties with Qatar after accusing the latter of funding terrorists.
Nurul’s assurance came at a consultation meeting on the challenges facing women migrant workers of Bangladesh and addressing the role of  intermediaries at Probashi Lakyan Bahban.
The meeting was organised by the Bangladeshi Ovhibashi Mohila Sramik Association (BOMSA) in collaboration with British Council’s PROKAS programme. It was chaired by Manusher Jonno Foundation executive director Shaheen Anam.
The minister said the government wanted to protect female workers from being cheated and harassed at home and abroad, and taken initiatives to train them in different trades. He also said that the Overseas Employment Act, 2013 was formulated to protect both male and female workers from being cheated by middlemen.
Speaking at the same programme, female migrant workers and rights campaigners urged the government to immediately regulate the middlemen involved in the recruitment process to curb harassment.  They said the recruiting agencies must be strictly regulated to ensure the recruitment of migrant workers from the government database.
Sharing her experience, Shahida, who aspires to migrate, said she wanted to go abroad, but found that no work could be done without the help of middlemen. “I didn’t have any disease, but was declared unfit by the GUMCA office because no agent had accompanied me for my medical check-up. I appeal to the government to protect me and other poor migrant workers from the middlemen,” she added.
Shahnaj Begum, who returned home from Oman, said she went to the country by paying Tk. 1 lakh to a broker.
Presenting a keynote paper, BOMSA director Sumaiya Islam said the middlemen needed to be regulated by the existing laws as they were demolishing the dreams of female migrant workers. “The functional recruitment system from the government database can help reduce the involvement of middlemen,” she added.
Chairing the consultation, Shaheen Anam said that there was urgent need to improve training for female migrant workers as they came from vulnerable places. “Most of them go abroad for work without proper skills. They remain ill-prepared and fail to bargain for their salaries,” she  added.
Women with a minimum educational background should be selected for overseas jobs, Shaheen added.
Catherine Cecill, team leader of British Council’s PROKAS programme, said intermediaries were part and parcel of the labour migration process and therefore needed to be regulated. “Sometimes migrants are exploited by these intermediaries,” she added.

 

No worry for Bangladeshi workers in Qatar: Minister

The crisis in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar will not affect the Bangladesh labour market in Qatar, expatriates welfare and overseas employment minister Nurul Islam said yesterday. The ministrys secretary, Begum Shamsun Nahar, echoed the ministers assurance, saying, We deal with our labour markets individually and thus the market in Qatar would not be affected. Saudi Arabia has recently severed diplomatic ties withQatar after accusing the latter of funding terrorists. Nuruls assurance came at a consultation meeting on the challenges facing women migrant workers of Bangladesh and addressing the role of intermediaries at Probashi Lakyan Bahban. The meeting was organised by the Bangladeshi Ovhibashi Mohila Sramik Association (BOMSA) in collaboration with British Councils PROKAS programme. It was chaired by Manusher Jonno Foundation executive director Shaheen Anam. The minister said the government wanted to protect female workers from being cheated and harassed at home and abroad, and taken initiatives to train them in different trades. He also said that the Overseas Employment Act, 2013 was formulated to protect both male and female workers from being cheated by middlemen. Speaking at the same programme, female migrant workers and rights campaigners urged the government to immediately regulate the middlemen involved in the recruitment process to curb harassment. They said the recruiting agencies must be strictly regulated to ensure the recruitment of migrant workers from the government database. Sharing her experience, Shahida, who aspires to migrate, said she wanted to go abroad, but found that no work could be done without the help of middlemen. I didnt have any disease, but was declared unfit by the GUMCA office because no agent had accompanied me for my medical check-up. I appeal to the government to protect me and other poor migrant workers from the middlemen, she added. Shahnaj Begum, who returned home from Oman, said she went to the country by paying Tk. 1 lakh to a broker. Presenting a keynote paper, BOMSA director Sumaiya Islam said the middlemen needed to be regulated by the existing laws as they were demolishing the dreams of female migrant workers. The functional recruitment system from the government database can help reduce the involvement of middlemen, she added. Chairing the consultation, Shaheen Anam said that there was urgent need to improve training for female migrant workers as they came from vulnerable places. Most of them go abroad for work without proper skills. They remain ill-prepared and fail to bargain for their salaries, she added. Women with a minimum educational background should be selected for overseas jobs, Shaheen added. Catherine Cecill, team leader of British Councils PROKAS programme, said intermediaries were part and parcel of the labour migration process and therefore needed to be regulated. Sometimes migrants are exploited by these intermediaries, she added.