Govt urged to enhance budgetary allocations for migrant workers

The government should enhance budgetary allocations for strengthening welfare, skill development and protection mechanism for the country’s migrant workers, said lawmakers and migration experts on Sunday.

Speaking in an online meeting, they urged the government to further enhance the incentives on remittance receipt up to 4 per cent to extend the supports to migrant workers amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The meeting on “Online Pre-Budget National Consultation for the FY 2021-2022 on Migrants’ Welfare” was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development, Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants (BCSM) and WARBE Development Foundation with support from PROKAS, British Council, and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Speaking as chief guest, Anisul Islam Mahmud, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on expatriates welfare and overseas employment ministry, said that budgetary allocations should be made available to ensure “planned migration” for aspirant migrants considering global demand as well as taking legal steps to “recover huge money of wage theft” of the returned migrants.

“I fully agree with others to enhance the incentive on remittance inflow considering great contribution of the migration sector,” he said.

Dhaka University professor and noted migration expert Dr Tasneem Siddiqui who moderated the session also demanded 4 per cent enhancement of incentives for the remittance senders.

“All cost should not be taken from wage earners welfare fund, created by migrant workers’ contribution,” she said, adding that the government should have sufficient budget from revenue to ensure protections of migrant workers.

WARBE Development Foundation chairman Syed Saiful Haque demanded migrant workers’ budget for ensuring their voting rights from abroad.

RMMRU executive director Dr CR Abrar said that budgets were needed to modernise the curricula of Technical Training Centres to groom demand-oriented skilled workers for overseas jobs.

Expatriates welfare and overseas employment ministry’s secretary Dr Ahmed Munirus Saleheen said that people’s mindset should be changed through motivation to adopt the vocational or technical education.

“Budget allocation is not a problem. Only problem is to manage the budget,” he said, adding that the government was fully committed to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration from Bangladesh.

Parliamentarisms Caucus on Migration and Development chairman Shameem Haider Patwary and other members Fakhrul Imam, Aroma Dutta, Adiba Anzum Mita, Ahsan Adilur Rahman, Nabi Newaz and Rana Sohail stressed the need for enhancing budgets for ensuring technical education, facilitating training and grooming skilled workers for overseas jobs.

Ambassadors Nazrul Islam and Nahida Sobhan also took part in the discussion and focused on enhanced budget to grab new labour market in Africa and West Asia amid changed period.