Subsidise air fare for workers returning from Malaysia

Expatriate Bangladeshi workers in the Middle East were forced to return home and now those in Malaysia are also being forced to do so. Worse still, uncertainty looms over their return due to high air fare.

The Malaysian government has recently undertaken an amnesty programme that allows undocumented expatriate workers there to return to their countries. Around 30,000 Bangladeshi workers are on the amnesty list that has a 31 December deadline. Under the programme, the workers have to collect special cards from the Malaysian government after purchasing their air tickets. They can then secure their travel passes from the Bangladesh embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

To accommodate the huge number of returnees, Biman Bangladesh has decided to run 16 additional flights on the Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route, but the air fare is much higher than normal. An economy class ticket without luggage will cost over 26,000 taka and with luggage over 35,000 taka. Business class fare will be double the economy class. Usually such one-way tickets would cost 10,000-15,000 taka.

There is a ticket crisis on the Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route, according to the travel agencies who are selling the tickets at 50,000-70,000 taka. The one-way fare on private airlines is double the fare of Biman Bangladesh. Ticket prices have risen as per demand, but how can these migrant workers afford this?

The government has decided to subsidise 10,000 taka per Biman ticket. This will ease only the return of the workers securing Biman tickets. Not all the workers will be able to avail Biman flights. They will have to buy private airlines’ tickets at higher cost which is hardly affordable.
Such a crisis of the expatriate workers who strengthen our economy and contribute to our foreign currency reserve cannot be ignored. The 10,000 taka subsidy should be given not only to the Biman travellers but to all to have to return by the deadline. The government can talk to the private airlines and take measures accordingly.

Expatriate workers who are forced to return to the country are facing a crisis already. Many of them went into hiding in Malaysia as they did not have any documents. They were forced to work on a low wages too. It will be hard for them to bear the travel expenses. Their return would be eased if the prices of the private airlines' tickets are fixed in line with the Biman tickets.