Govt to create integrated database of returnee migrants

The government has decided to collect and store the information of returning migrants at immigration counters with an aim to prepare an integrated database.

The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment will use the data to provide various government assistance to them. 

A five-member committee – comprised of officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and the Department of Immigration and Passport – has been formed to ensure information management in the Immigration Department system at the earliest.

The decision was made at a virtual inter-ministerial meeting on Thursday. Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Imran Ahmed MP presided over the event. 

The minister said, "It is necessary to preserve detailed information for the socio-economic rehabilitation and reintegration of the returning workers. For example: when did he go, what type of job did he do, how long did he come, etc."

Therefore, it has been decided to collect and store the information of the returning workers or returnees at immigration counters in order to provide them with assistance from the government, he added.

Dr Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary of the ministry moderated the meeting.

Some 78,043 Bangladeshi migrant workers returned home from 26 between April 1 and August 22 countries amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to data of the expatriates' welfare ministry.