Leaders of the country’s business associations on Thursday pledged to provide the repatriated Bangladeshis from Middle East and North African countries, especially from Libya, with jobs.
They made the promise in a discussion on ‘Prevailing situation in North Africa and Middle East’ organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry at Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.
FBCCI president AK Azad urged the business community, trade bodies, and stakeholders to rehabilitate the returning expatriate Bangladeshis.
He said they deserved support from the businesses during such a crisis as they were the lifeline to Bangladesh’s economy.
He said, last year, the expatriates remitted $11 billion to Bangladesh, of which $100 million came from Libya. But, the current situation is forcing them to return home and it is their right to get support from the country’s business community, he observed.
Some of the business leaders taking part in the discussion made specific promises extempore. Among them, Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Monwara Hakim promised employment for 100 people and FBCCI director Harun Or Rashid for 500 people.
AK Azad announced to raise a fund to provide the Bangladeshis repatriated from the trouble-torn Arab world with immediate financial support and also urged his fellow business leaders to come forward to lend support to these hapless people.
Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya, parliamentary standing committee on expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud, and CPD executive director Mustafizur Rahman, among others, were present on the occasion.
Debapriya surmised that the current situation in Middle East and North Africa might increase poverty and decrease the value of money.
The people being forced to return home will spend from their savings, adding a pressure on the food market, which in turn will lead to a rise in poverty, he explained.
He said the expatriates had been contributing to the country’s foreign currency reserve by remitting their earnings but, in the current situation, the remittance inflow would decline by about $100 million, which would decrease the value of taka against the foreign currencies.
He said the government should take deliberate and calculated steps immediately for bringing back those who wanted to return home and for ensuring security for those who wanted to stay there.
The government also should relocate the expatriates from Libya immediately, so that they can went back to that country when the situation cools down, Debapriya observed.
He suggested establishing a 24-hour information helpline on the current situation of Libya and the Bangladeshis working there.
Former FBCCI president Abul Kasem Ahmed said the government should develop a database on the people returning from abroad so that the businesses could find suitable employment for them based on the data.
He suggested that the ministries of foreign affairs, labour, and finance should take joint initiatives to bring the expatriates back to Bangladesh.
Anisul Islam Mahmud said the government already had taken the necessary steps for bringing Bangladeshi expatriates back from Libya, with 10,594 of them already returning home as of March 10 and around 17,000 waiting at Libya’s borders with Tunisia and Egypt as well as in Greece across the Mediterranean would be brought back very soon.
Courtesy of New Age
