BANGLADESH - MIGRATION IN 1998
BANGLADESH - MIGRATION IN 1998 |
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The procedure for working abroad has been simplified: an overseas worker recruit can complete the formalities himself through the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training. In November, the government lifted its ban on the hiring of women as garment workers in the Middle East (the ban, imposed in August, covers women in all categories, except doctors and engineers). The government might also ease the ban on the migration of domestic helpers, which was imposed since July 1997 because of worker abuse and the inability of diplomatic missions to extend assistance. Malaysia’s crisis translated to the repatriation of some 10,000 Bang-ladeshi workers.
The trafficking of women and children from Bangladesh continues unabated. Police estimate some 15,000 women and children are smuggled out of Bangladesh every year, and many end up in brothels or in virtual slavery as domestic workers in India and Pakistan. In the case of boys, some end up as camel jockeys in the Middle East. Children could be bought for as low as Rs1,000 to Rs5,000. Even when these children are rescued, their families may not claim them because traffickers use gangs to terrorize the families.Bangladesh tightened its border controls to prevent India from repatriating Bengalis. From Bangladesh’s standpoint, there are no Bangla-deshis living in India illegally or posing as Indian citizens. Meanwhile, Indian authorities in West Bengal, the only Bengali-speaking state, protested the move by the federal government to forcibly repatriate Bengali speakers outside of West Bengal to Bangladesh.
The repatriation of the remaining 7,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh has been stalled because of complications in securing permission from the Myanmar government and the unwillingness of some refugees to return. Earlier Myanmar approved the return of the 7,000 but later it only allowed 1,000 to return (as of December).