12 return from HK
Woes of female workers
At least a dozen out of 146 female migrant workers of Bangladesh who were sent to Hong Kong in batches to work as domestic aids, have already returned to the country as they were provided little food and compelled to work till late night without any weekly holiday.
Rita and Srabanti Mondal who returned from Hong Kong recently narrated almost similar stories ofwoes while talking to The New Nation on Sunday. Srabanti described rough behaviour of her employer as another reason of leaving the job.
Srabanti and Rita have returned home having worked merely for a few weeks in Hong Kong.
Srabanti said she had to spend about Tk. 1.50 lakh for going to Hong Kong on employment as a house maid. Of the total amount she spent for the job she borrowed US $ 1300 from Prabashi Kallyan Bank and the rest was borrowed from private sources. She returned Dhaka on September 22.
She said she was not paid Tk. 41,000 monthly wage as promised. Her wage was about Tk. 30,000.Under pressure of hard work and poor meal, she said, she fell sick. At one stage she was taken to a doctor for treatment. Her employer agreed to send her back in response to her repeated requests, she said.
Srabanti was a student of BA (Honours) in English in Khulna, where she lives with her widow mother and two brothers and sister. The repayment of the money which she took from the bank, is now a matter of worry for her. She said those who have gone to Hong Kong, have identical stories to tell.
Those who are given weekly holiday, are asked by their employers to arrange their own food and accommodation on week end day, she said. “It is difficult for our workers to find accommodation and food in Hong Kong on our own”, she said.
Rita who had left for Hong Kong on August 2, returned home on August 27 last. She also borrowed money from the Prabashi Kalyan Bank. Rita who lives in Dhaka said some of those who returned from Hong Kong met an official of BMET on Sunday to discuss mechanism for realization of compensation for them. Several other domestic aids, she said, were planning to return home from Hong Kong as they were facing difficulties there. She said that they would submit written prayer to the government to look into their case. Zobaida Afroz who was preparing to work as domestic aid in Hong Kong, Rita said, has decided not to go having heard stories of their woes.
When contacted Javed Ahmed, Additional Director General, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said that the government was aware of the matter. An official team of the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment is likely to visit Hong Kong soon to identify the problems of migrant workers and find solution to those. “Our workers need to under go extensive training so that they can adjust to Hong Kong condition,” he said.
As regards migration of female workers to Hong Kong, he said, a few hundred workers were undergoing training. Visa for 100 other female migrant workers, he said, is under process.
The first batch of 11 female workers went to Hong Kong on May 10 while the second batch of equal number of workers left on May 25 this year. In batches a total of 146 female workers have gone to Hong Kong, another official of BMET said.
Prior to departure for Hong Kong the migrant workers are imparted training in Cantonese, English, Chinese Cuisine, Washing machine operation and ironing for three months at the Keraniganj Technical Training Centre, BMET source said.
They are sent for employment in Hong Kong following a public-private partnership agreement signed between the BMET and Technical Employment Services, a Hong Kong based recruiting agency.
Under the agreement workers will be recruited initially for two years but their job contracts can be renewed for three more years. According to BMET official a migrant worker has to pay Tk. 20,000 to a private recruiting agency in Bangladesh as service charge while the Hong Kong based agency is charging Tk. 1,04,000 per head. The charge covers air fare and the expenditure of training in Bangladesh and in Hong Kong, BMET source said.
It should be recalled that a MoU was signed early this year between BMET and Hong Kong based authority for recruitment of 50,000 domestic aids from Bangladesh.
-With The New Nation input
