Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has urged private recruiting agents to get out a tout’s mindset while dealing in manpower export.
Speaking at an interaction with the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) on Thursday, he came down heavily on its members for charging their clients exorbitantly and for irregularities in manpower export.
The minister said, “You’re taking Tk 600,000-700,000 for sending each person abroad. How much are you pocketing? You are giving all the money to foreign touts.”
Referring to BAIRA’s usual rates of Tk 70,000 and Tk 75,000 for sending each worker to the Middle East and Malaysia respectively, he asked: “How many of you are sending workers abroad by charging this kind of money?”
Hossain said, “One promised to send 200,000 people to Malaysia. Has any message come to you from God on this? How will you send people if there is no demand — illegally through forging papers?”
“One of your leaders said that you could send to foreign countries 1 million workers. Economic depression is going on in different countries in the world. How will you send (the workers) in such a situation?”
“Illegally?” quipped the minister.
The minister reacted strongly to several BAIRA members’ criticism of the new immigration law.
He said, “Looks like a rogue has made the law from the way you speak. One said that the government has thrown you into water with the hands and legs tied… But none of you could say where the problem is in the law.”
Source: Bd news24