Recruiters’ see change of situation by end of 2009: Manpower export plummets by 50 pc

Manpower export plummeted by 50 per cent in the recent months as many of the countries have stopped recruiting Bangladeshi labourers and sending back a huge number of them.
In the latest Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island state, has decided to send back 6,000 Bangladeshi workers by the end of this year, citing the effect of global recession. Of them 4,000 labours are working in readymade garment industry.
On Friday Malaysia was scheduled to lift the ban on recruiting 55,000 Bangladeshi workers but a meeting chaired by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin failed to come to a decision. Members of the cabinet committee on foreign workers recruitment opposed the move citing protection of interest of local workers.
The ban was imposed on March 10 following a diplomatic misconception, which sparked protest among local labour organisations.
Some days back Romanian government has cancelled 9000 calling visas citing that Bangladeshi labourers flee for rich West European countries after coming to the East European country which was included in the European Union recently.
Manpower exports to the Saudi Arabia still remains suspended despite Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent visit to the Kingdom. However, she managed to persuade the Saudi monarchy to give preferential treatment to Bangladeshi workers facilitating their transfer of jobs.
Number of returnee labourers may rise further in the upcoming months, stakeholders apprehended.
Despite suspension of manpower export and sending back labourers by various countries export of skilled workers increased by a good margin this year and last year compared to 2007. President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Ghulam Mustafa yesterday told The New Nation that out of 5 lakh workers sent to United Arab Emirates (UAE) around 4 lakh were skilled manpower. According to the Economic Review the export of skilled manpower increased by 70 per cent to 2,81,444 in 2008 from 1,65,344 in 2007.
Ghulam Mustafa said the export of skilled manpower has helped raise remittance inflow with a 22.32 per cent growth last fiscal year compared to FY2007-08.
He said the hostile situation of manpower export may continue until October but hoped that the scenario will be changed after that.
“We are concerned as Malaysian government did not take positive decision Friday, but we are hopeful that the country will lift the ban very shortly,” Mustafa said.
“There will be opening of manpower export to Iraq very soon. Some more new markets will also be explored to raise the manpower export,” he added.
Disclosing BAIRA’s decision to reduce cost of migration he said the rate will be decreased by Tk 20,000 for Middle Eastern countries. A BAIRA team will visit Malaysia after Eid ul Fitr to have meetings with the middlemen who mainly work to arrange the visas. The teams will also visit UAE, Iraq and Saudi Arabia in this regard, he said.
“Yes, the migration cost was very high in the past. But we decided to turn it into a service oriented industry and to give priority on providing service instead of taking it as business,” Mustafa said.

Courtesy of The New Nation