Bangladesh to set country-specific minimum salaries for migrant workers

The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment is working on preparing a demand letter detailing the lowest salaries for each migrant destination country for Bangladeshi workers.

"The ministry is doing its assessment," Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad told journalists yesterday.

"In Saudi Arabia, our workers get 800 riyals and the workers of other countries get 1,000 to 1,200 riyals. To earn more, skills need to be improved and it is a big responsibility," he said.

Regarding the cost of immigration, the expatriate welfare minister said, "Immigration is not a one-way process. It happens from both sides. We have a limitation as a worker-sending country."

In response to the question of whether the government is being forced to accept additional immigration costs, Imran Ahmed said, "We have to adapt to the system of that country. In the meantime, we are keeping a close eye to ensure no injustice is being done."

Referring to Malaysia, the minister said, "According to our MoU in Malaysia, the cost is about Tk80,000. But I hear they are charging Tk2 to 3 lakh."

Imran Ahmad said that action will be taken against the agencies and medical centres that are conducting false medical tests for aspirant migrants to Malaysia.

"Their licence will be cancelled once we get the proof," he said.

Imran Ahmad said at the end of the year the number of people going abroad will be near 11 lakh.

"I am not satisfied with that number," the minister said, adding, "When things start going well in Malaysia, there will be 15 to 16 lakh workers."

The IOM event focused on the lessons learnt and looked at ways forward on migration governance, sustainable reintegration and awareness raising in Bangladesh.

The event also included a photography exhibition that brings together a range of migration-related stories to help understand the complex experience and contextualise some of the opportunities and challenges of migration in Bangladesh.

Among others, Dr Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary, Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment; Dr Bernd Spanier, deputy head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh; Abdusattor Esoev, chief of mission, IOM Bangladesh; Shahidul Haque, senior policy advisor, IOM Bangladesh; Md Shahidul Alam, director general, BMET; Safi Rahman Khan, director, (Education, Skill and migration), Brac and Head of Migration Program, Brac, Shariful Hasan also spokes at the event.