Broker syndicates are a significant barrier to sending labor overseas, according to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Chief Advisor of the interim administration.
Speaking as the principal guest at an event held in honor of International Migrants and Expatriates Day at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital, he made the statements early on Wednesday, December 17.
According to Dr. Yunus, brokers are involved in every stage of the manpower export process, and their deceit is hurting people at every turn. He emphasized that until the personnel export industry is liberated from brokers, significant progress will not be feasible.
Recalling the release of Bangladeshi workers in the United Arab Emirates, the Chief Adviser said they had gone abroad after great hardship. “They knew the consequences of breaking the law there, yet they violated it for the sake of the country. Later, I appealed to that country’s government, and they were released,” he said.
Dr Yunus said that after he assumed office as Chief Adviser, Anwar Ibrahim visited Bangladesh. At that time, he learned that 17,000 workers could not go to Malaysia because their permits had expired, despite completing all required procedures. “I told Anwar Ibrahim that these workers must be taken. My friend could not refuse and said, ‘All right, we will take them.’ Later, during my visit to Malaysia, I worked on these issues and found that the entire system was filled with broker syndicates. The government is far removed from it. This is the fate of those who want to go abroad,” he said.
He also shared his experience from a visit to Japan, saying Japanese officials told him they needed workers. “We said we have people ready. They asked how many we could provide. I said we could provide 100,000 workers if they learn the language, they can go there,” he said.
Dr Yunus noted that Japan had taken 7,000 workers from Nepal but only 2,000 from Bangladesh. “I was surprised. If Nepal can send so many, why not Bangladesh?” he said.
He added that in many Japanese cities, taxi services have shut down due to a shortage of drivers, and vast tracts of land remain unused and uninhabited. “They told us to send people so these services can resume and farming can be carried out,” he said.
“The world is facing a shortage of youth, while we are a reservoir of young people,” Dr Yunus said. “This is more valuable than gold. The whole world will have to come to us there is no other country with such a large young workforce.”
At the event, Adviser for Expatriate Welfare Dr Asif Nazrul highlighted various steps taken by the interim government for the welfare of expatriates.
