'Unaware of zero cost, women spend big to go abroad for work'

Bangladesh women migrants have been spending huge amounts of money to go abroad for jobs as they don't know they are entitled to get overseas work free of cost.

Anwara, a resident from Savar of Dhaka, went to Jordan to work in the garments sector in the Middle East country.

She migrated through a middleman after spending over Tk 100,000.

Anwara, a woman from a poor family, said she didn't know that female migrants can migrate abroad for work free of cost. She also didn't receive any training before migrating to Jordan.

"I went through a middleman. I spent over Tk 100,000 as I didn't know that no payment is required for female migrants," said Anwara while sharing her experience of migration at a national consultation on 'woman migrant workers' rights and dignity' in the capital on Monday.

Karmojibi Nari, Shobujer Ovijan Foundation and WARBE Development Foundation jointly organised the event.

Anwara said she had to undergo terrible suffering at the airport as a signature was missing in her passport. She said she was detained by the law enforcers, but she was released with the help of local Bangladeshi agents there.

She, however, said she got proper wages during her four-year stay in the country.

About collecting migration payment from women migrants reportedly by a section of middlemen, the Bureau of Manpower Employment and training (BMET), which regulates the labour migration, director general Md Shahidul Alam said women migrants need not to spend any money to go abroad for work.

When asked why the female migrants don't know about the matter, the official said, "We made mandatory training for one month for the aspirant women migrants. During the training, they are informed of the matter."

The official also said some female migrants may go abroad without training as it was halted during the Covid-19.

Shahidul Alam said they have conducted campaigns at district, upazila and union levels to create awareness about the overseas employment among the aspirant migrants.

According to a recent report of International Organization for Migration (IOM), Bangladesh is the sixth-largest migrant sending country and the eighth largest remittance receiving country globally.

Female migrants also play an important role in the labour migration by sending huge amount of remittance every year.

BMET statistics show as many as 953,239 female migrants have gone abroad for work up to May 2021 since 1991.

A total of 13,502,845 migrants, both male and female, have gone abroad for work up to November since 1976.

Bangladesh received a total of Tk 18,790 billion as remittance up to November 2021 since 1976.

Separate data is not available as to how much remittance women migrants sent home while working in different countries including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, UAE and Malaysia.

Despite huge contribution to the economy, women migrants are facing various problems while migrating and reaching the destination countries.

Chairman of WARBE Development Foundation which works for rights of migrants, Syed Saiful Haque, said women migrants are facing various problems after reaching the destination counties.

The rights activist said they don't get regular wages and they have to work long hours. They don't have any fixed working hours.

Saiful Haque said there is no one to look after the women migrants. The embassy and the recruiting agents should work on this, he added.

Attending the national consultation on 'woman migrant workers' rights and dignity', two more women migrants said they have to spend money to go abroad for work.

Kamala, who returned from Lebanon, said, "I didn't know money is not required for going abroad. I spent Tk 70,000."

She, however, said, "I stayed for three years and my madam, employer, was good. I got salary regularly."

Kamala said she faced problems with language. "I couldn't ask for food and I didn't know their language."

Those who want to go abroad for work they should learn language, she suggested.