Iftekhar assured of Kuwait’s bid to resolve workers’ problems
September 12, 2008
Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Friday said the Kuwaiti authorities have assured him of every effort to resolve the problems faced by the Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait, reports UNB.
Iftekhar, also in charge of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, returned home early Friday after a two-day visit to Kuwait.
The Foreign Adviser mentioned that the Kuwaiti authorities announced an amnesty until October 15 for illegal workers to depart Kuwait without any legal impediments.
“To facilitate the Mission’s work in this regard, and also in response to public demand, we have decided to increase manpower at the (Bangladesh) Embassy,” he said.
“We’ve also engaged a Kuwaiti lawyer to protect our workers’ interests. I had a meeting with him as well,” Dr. Iftekhar Chowdhury said.
During the visit, the Adviser held discussions with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohamed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Labour Minister Bader Fahed Ali Al-Duwailah and other senior officials.
He also held two rounds of discussion with the members of the Bangladeshi community.
Talking to the media in the city Friday, the Foreign Adviser said the Kuwait authorities have assured him that a minimum wage of KD 40 is being fixed for the workers and their living conditions would be improved.
“The question of compensation to the deported labourers would be speedily addressed,” he said, adding: “Kuwait will also take stern action against the Kuwaiti companies who have exploited the Bangladeshis.”
Iftekhar informed that the Kuwaiti Parliament would meet in an emergency session on September 10 to discuss the crisis with regard to foreign workers, including Asians and Bangladeshis. “In that respect the visit was well-timed,” he said.
He said the Kuwaiti authorities see Bangladesh as “a great friend who stood by them at the hour of their greatest need during the Iraqi occupation.
“I also appreciated their support to our economic development. I urged them to take skilled manpower from Bangladesh in the future.
They also agreed to consider supporting some new projects in Bangladesh covering the Padma Bridge, Chittagong Port, and the Special Economic Zone in Sylhet.”
Seoul to recruit 7000 Bangladeshis by 2009
September 12, 2008
South Korea will recruit over 7000 skilled and semi skilled workers from Bangladesh in the next 16 months, the country’s ambassador told the FE on Monday.
Suk-Bum Park said around 3000 Bangladeshi would get jobs in the East Asian economic giant this year while the rest in 2009.
“We have growing employment opportunities in the country’s construction, textile, fisheries, agriculture, electronics and machinery sectors,” Mr. Park said.
“We’ll recruit around 3000 workers under the first ‘Employment Permit System (EPS)’ system this year. In 2009, the number of recruitment will be around 4000,” he said.
Asia’s fourth largest economy has already recruited more than a thousand Bangladeshi under the newly launched ‘Employment Permit System (EPS)’ system, with salary starting from Tk85,000 a month.
Officials said under the EPS, South Korea will recruit 50,000 skilled manpower from 14 countries, including Bangladesh, to make up for its growing shortages of labour force in the country.
“We need huge number of overseas workers as the population growth in South Korea has become stagnant. There are jobs available in almost every sector,” Mr. Park said.
The ambassador said his government has launched the EPS to help the local companies recruit skilled manpower in a transparent process and also to protect the rights of the overseas workers.
Under the EPS, an overseas worker has to enlist his name online, pass Korean language proficiency test and prove his skill for the desired job.
Human Resources Development office of the Korean labour ministry conduct the selection process. Once selected a Bangladesh worker will have to bear only air travel cost, which is around US$850 dollar.
The EPS was launched after Seoul and Dhaka signed an agreement, paving the way for recruitment of skilled Bangladeshi workers by South Korean private companies.
The agreement protects the interest and rights of Bangladeshi workforce in South Korea, where around 18,000 Bangladeshis are now employed and the new deal will facilitate employment of another 10,000 workers within 2010.
100,000 Bangladeshis to get jobs in Malaysia in three months
September 12, 2008
Over 100,000 Bangladeshis are expected to leave Dhaka with jobs for Malaysia by next three months, foreign adviser said Friday.
“We have come to know that a further 100,000 Bangladeshis will be able to leave Dhaka with jobs for Malaysia this year,” foreign adviser Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told the FE.
Dr. Chowdhury is also in-charge of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
He said the South East Asian country, which is one of the premier destinations for Bangladeshi overseas job seekers, has already emerged as a key source of inward remittances for the country.
The foreign adviser said inflow of inward remittances from Bangladeshis in Malaysia has set a record in the last fiscal as manpower export to the country increased in the recent years.
In 2007-08, Dhaka received a record $92.44 million worth of remittances from over half a million Bangladeshis living and working in Malaysia. The amount was $11.8 million in 2006-07.
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Oman-Bangladesh MoU on manpower
August 27, 2008
MUSCAT — Oman and Bangladesh have concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on manpower cooperation and an agreement to avoid double taxation following discussions here on Saturday between senior officials from the two countries.
Dr Juma bin Ali bin Juma, Manpower Minister, who signed the MoU with Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment in Bangladesh, said the deal encompassed the categories of manpower, specialised, skilled and semi-skilled workers, required by Oman’s labour market.
The taxation agreement, meanwhile, is aimed at avoiding double taxation on income generated from international air transportation. Juma said it sought to regularise taxes imposed by the two countries on national airline companies that operated international services.
Saud bin Nasser Al Shikaili, Secretary-General of Taxation at the Finance Ministry, said the accord would enhance bilateral trade and passenger and cargo traffic. The Sultanate has now signed 11 agreements with foreign countries for avoiding double taxation in the air transport sector.
Chowdhury said the pact would give a fillip to bilateral cooperation. Also on Saturday, the Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, Sayyid Fahad bin Mamhood Al Said, received the Bangladeshi official. The Deputy Premier expressed his satisfaction at the level of Oman-Bangladesh relations, and the two sides agreed to step up these links further, especially in the economic sector with the active participation of private sectors in both countries. Chowdhury said Bangladesh was keen to expand ties with Oman, adding that the two new agreements would open up ‘new horizons’ of cooperation.
Source: Khaleej Times
Joint Panel to Address Bangladeshi Labor Issues
August 27, 2008
Labor problems among the Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom will top the agenda of the Saudi-Bangladesh Joint Committee scheduled for April 7-8 in Dhaka. Abdulrahman Albawardi, deputy minister for labor affairs, will lead the 16-member Saudi side. Leading the Bangladeshi team will be Mohammed Aminul Islam Bhuyan, secretary for economic relations.
“The forthcoming meeting will resolve several issues pertaining to the Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom,” said Wahidur Rahman, deputy chief of mission of the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh. He said the Bangladeshi team would be seeking permission from the Saudi side to draw up policy guidelines with the Saudi government regarding the recruitment of Bangladeshi manpower.
“We believe in sending men who are skilled and semi skilled in their respective professions and we like our men to be paid a minimum wage of SR600 per month, not including food and accommodation,” Rahman said, pointing out that this would eradicate the free-visa system, which is common among a section of the Bangladeshi workers.
Rahman also said that the participants at the meeting would also identify the problems faced by the Bangladeshi employee and their employers during their period of work contracts.
“Some of the problems are created due to not paying of wages and harassment,” he said, pointing out that they could be resolved in a friendly manner. Admitting that a fraction of the Bangladeshi population has got into some problems in the Kingdom, leading many to identify Bangladeshis as a specific problem, he said that the rest of the workforce has earned a good name for their loyalty and perseverance.
A spokesman from the Labor Ministry said that the ministry would take up the issue of workers who are coming into the Kingdom on free visas, pilgrims who overstay their Haj and Umrah visas, and upgrading the skills of Bangladeshi workers.
Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi on Sunday confirmed a ban on recruitment of some categories of the Bangladeshi workers. He said the Kingdom would continue to recruit Bangladeshi doctors and engineers, as well as cleaning and maintenance staff for government departments. The ban was only limited to certain jobs, such as domestic servants and farm hands, he added.
Gosaibi said the ban was part of a new recruitment policy that aims to strike a balance among the various nationalities working in the Kingdom. “The restriction was imposed in line with the policy of limiting the number of workers hired from a single country,” he said, adding that the ban would be reconsidered in the future.
The minister added that the recruitment ban on some categories of Bangladeshi workers was called for since some of these categories have already reached the set quota.
The minister said the decision excludes cleaning and maintenance companies having government contracts. The ban is not permanent since the ministry periodically revises recruitment decisions. “The ministry might reconsider the status of Bangladeshi workers in the future if a balance is struck between their numbers and that of all foreign workers in the country,” Gosaibi said.
Attestation of Saudi Work Visa
August 27, 2008
| Papers required for the attestation of the visa are:• Number of visa issued from the Saudi Labour Ministry against Bangladesh mentioning the profession• Demand letter given to the Bangladesh Recruiting Agency from the Employer mentioning the no of workers with profession, salary and other facilities
• Demand letter duly attested from the Chamber of Commerce and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia. • A prescribed form to be submitted to the Labour Wing at the Embassy of Bangladesh. |
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The Labour Wing plays the role of coordinator and facilitator by providing guidance and necessary assistance to the non resident Bangladeshis living in the Saudi Arabia. Service provided by Labour Wing The services cover different welfare aspects including: 1. Authentication and verification of employment contracts 2. Attestation of documents pertaining to recruitment from Bangladesh 3. Counselling and assistance to Bangladeshi workers in settling disputes with employer 4. Registration of death of a Bangladeshi national. 5. Assistance in follow up work with sponsors and local authorities for the earliest burial/transportation to Bangladesh of mortal remains. 6. Issue of No Objection Certificate for the local burial or transportation to Bangladesh of mortal remains of deceased Bangladeshi nationals. 7. Assistance to the deceased family in claiming death compensation due to traffic accident deaths. 8. Attending various Shariah Courts for the settlement of death compensation claims of deceased Bangladeshi nationals who authorise the Embassy with their Power of Attorney. 9. Realisation of death compensation claims and regular dues of a deceased from concerned authorities and remit the money to Bangladesh to the next of kin of deceased Bangladeshi nationals, through Bureau of Manpower and Employment Training (BMET). 10. Attending Labourt Courts to assist the Bangladeshi nationals in settlement of their legal claims against the sponsor. |
Govt fixes minimum wage for unskilled workers at 550 SR
July 20, 2008
According to a press release of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, The minimum wage will be effective from July 1 this year.
If the employer provides lodging only, the minimum wage for an unskilled worker has to be SR 750 (1SR=Tk 19). If the employer does not provide any food and lodging, the minimum wage will have to be SR 950, the release added.
A recent inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Abdul Matin Chowdhury, expatriates’ welfare secretary, fixed the minimum wage and decided that no employment demand letter or visas will be approved if the wages are less than that fixed by the government.
According to officials and manpower agencies handling recruitment of workers to the kingdom, Bangladeshi workers get the lowest wages due to fierce competition between recruiting agencies and middlemen who buy visas from Saudi employers.
Presently, each of the around 1.7 lakh Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia gets only around SR 200 to SR 300 per month, prompting some of the workers to be engaged in criminal activities for additional income or be engaged in multiple jobs — a violation of laws of the Middle Eastern country.
The meeting also decided that all the Saudi Arabia-bound workers — either with individual or group visas — must undergo an orientation session before their departure.
A spokesperson at the expatriates’ welfare ministry said 616 Bangladeshis were found to be detained in a deportation facility in Riyadh for various reasons and 286 Bangladeshis were detained for criminal offences.
As of February 9, a total of 348 Bangladeshis were in the facility awaiting deportation, the spokesperson added.
Some of the Bangladeshis were detained as they violated rules by switching jobs or did not have valid work permits or their visas expired, he said.
“It may be mentioned that many Bangladeshis wishing to save the money for their trip back home destroy their valid documents and surrender to Saudi police. According to the Saudi rules, the Saudi authorities pay for the airfare of the deportees,” he added.
Even a number of middlemen are encouraging legal Bangladeshi workers that they could save money if they returned home through the deportation centres, he said.
“No legal Bangladeshi worker has been deported to Bangladesh as yet,” said the spokesperson.
Manpower export
July 20, 2008
I must congratulate Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director of Pubali Bank, for coming up with a very innovative scheme for funding the prospective job seekers abroad. A substantial number of the expatriate wage earners are victims of the unscrupulous manpower agents who extract substantial sums from job seekers for employment abroad. Pubali Bank has initiated an expatriate lending project whereby the bank will advance money to the prospective job seekers who will repay the loan from their remittances.
I do have some personal experience regarding manpower export. It just so happens that when Bangladesh commenced exporting manpower and introduced the manpower license system my license number was number one. That is to say that I was the first to get hold of a manpower export license.
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Bangladesh offers to provide more manpower to Saudi Arabia
July 4, 2008
President Prof Iajuddin Ahmed Thursday said Bangladesh was ready to provide more skilled and unskilled manpower to Saudi Arabia for fulfilling the demand of the labour market of the oil-rich country, reports UNB.
He also said Saudi Arabia could import pharmaceutical products and medicines and explore the possibility of joint-venture investment in boosting Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector that would also benefit the Saudi investors. Read more
Prioritise broader goals of women development
June 14, 2008
Shunning the focus on merely addressing the current needs, the government should look to long-term goals emphasising gender issues while presenting a budget, speakers at a press conference yesterday said.
They said the prioritisation process should aim at achieving the broader goals of women-development issues instead of the three-year ‘mid-term budgetary framework’.
Unnayan Samannaya, Steps Towards Development, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Bangladesh Nari Pragati Sangha, ActionAid Bangladesh, Unifem Bangladesh and CIDA jointly organised the press conference on ‘National Budget 2008-09: Gender Analysis’, at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium in the city.
The speakers said transparency is needed in the gender statement of the proposed budget in order to ensure the utilisation of the funds allocated for women development.
Presenting the keynote paper, economist Dr Atiur Rahman said direct expenditure for women as proposed in the budget should be specific as it is not clear what amount will be spent on which sector meant for them.
He said though the budget proposes Tk 26,272 crore, or 26 percent of the budget, for ‘gender expenditure’, it does not draw the line between direct and indirect expenditures.
The remaining 74 percent of the budget is gender-blind, he said, adding that empowerment of women should be focused in order to prepare a women-friendly budget.
Dr Atiur, also chairman of the Unnayan Samannaya, lauded including women in the safety-net programmes but said the government should take measures to ensure that money earmarked for such programmes reach monga-stricken, haor and char areas where women are most vulnerable.
He placed stress on the effective implementation of the special social-protection programmes in the proposed budget.
Dr Atiur proposed introducing rationing system for female garment workers in order to ensure their food security.
“Quality of garment products will be compromised if female workers in the sector are not provided with proper food,” he said.
Stating that the ratio of men to women in tertiary education is 66:34, Dr Atiur called on the government to focus on increasing enrolment of women in tertiary and vocational education.
He urged the government to review VAT on health items and services meant exclusively for women through the ‘gender lens’.
Ranjan Karmakar, executive director of Steps Towards Development, Rokeya Kabir, executive director for Bangladesh Nari Pragati Sangha, Nahid Ahmed, national programme manager of Unifem Bangladesh, Nigar Sultana with ActionAid Bangladesh and Humayera Haq of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad were present at the press conference.