International Desk: Among the labor markets preferred by Bangladeshi workers, all four labor markets have closed this year. These labor markets are Italy, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Maldives. Among them, Italy's labor market was last closed on October 17. And the UAE labor market is not officially closed.
sromobajar
Manpower exporters say that the UAE government has unofficially stopped issuing visas since Bangladeshi expatriates protested in Bangladesh in support of the student movement.
According to the Bangladesh Manpower Employment and Training Bureau, 9 labor market closures have occurred since the closure of Iraq's labor market in 2011 until last year. Except this year, five labor markets have closed in the last 12 years. These are Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Iraq.
Meanwhile, in 2018, a special labor market research cell was formed for the employment of Bangladeshi workers in 53 new countries. But this labor market research cell has been inactive for seven years. Immigration officials say a closed and stagnant labor market is due to a lack of communication and coordination with foreign missions.
The closure was announced through a circular sent from the Italian Embassy in Dhaka on October 17. It is said that due to a large number of fake documents or documents, the Italian government has suspended the validity of all work permits issued in favor of citizens of some countries, including Bangladesh, until October 11 this year, which will remain in force until proper verification is completed.
Yashin Arafat, an Italian visa seeker, told Kal Kantha, 'After getting the work permit, I managed to submit the file after three months of effort. It's been four months now. I don't know if there will be a visa or when I will get the result.
But the Italian government is supposed to dispose of these files within three months. Seven lakh rupees have been spent so far including bringing the work permit. If there is no visa, everything will be destroyed.'
United Arab Emirates Labor Market: Although the United Arab Emirates labor market is not officially closed for Bangladeshi workers, the United Arab Emirates government has unofficially stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshi workers. According to the data of Manpower Employment and Training Bureau, only 676 workers went to this country last September. On inquiry, it is known that the workers who could not go to the United Arab Emirates in the month of July-August, went in September. The country did not issue any visas in September. Manpower exporters say the country's capital, Dubai, has been on hiatus for several years. Apart from this, a kind of pressure has been created due to the participation of expatriates in the July-August movement. However, this labor market has unofficially closed the visa. No official announcement has been made.
Malaysian labor market: Malaysian labor market was known as the most popular labor market after Saudi Arabia for Bangladeshi workers. From August 2022 to May 2024, 494 thousand 180 workers went to Malaysia. But due to the corruption and irregularities of the syndicate, the Malaysian labor market was closed on May 31 this year. 16 thousand 990 workers could not go even after the clearance of BMET. However, recently the Prime Minister of Malaysia has said that he will allow these workers to come to Bangladesh. But the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment has not taken any initiative in this regard so far. Meanwhile, from January to September 30 this year, Malaysia sent back 33,807 expatriates including Bangladeshis from all immigration depots. However, it is not known how many Bangladeshis are among them.
Labor market of Maldives: After being closed for a long time, the labor market of Maldives opened in February this year. But the labor market of the South Asian island nation of Maldives closed three months after its launch. The workers who paid the money to the broker suffered because of this. Bangladesh High Commission of Maldives issued a notification on May 22. It is said that the Maldivian government has stopped issuing visas for Bangladeshi workers. However, the High Commission is trying to increase the quota and introduce visas.
Five labor markets closed in 12 years: Five labor markets were closed in 12 years from 2011 to 2023. These are Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Iraq. Among them, Oman was closed in October last year, Bahrain in August 2018, Egypt in the same month in 2017, Libya in March 2016 and Iraq in July 2011. Immigration experts say that since 2018, the Expatriate Welfare Ministry has formed a research cell, but the research cell has not been able to launch these labor markets.
Viral girls dance to popular Hindi songs in the moving metro
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies Yagam Secretary General Mohammad Fakrul Islam told Kal Kantha, "The first research cell is in-active. They are not doing any work.'
