EPS pass holders protest delayed South Korea jobs; govt promises action
The protesters alleged bribery, corruption and mismanagement within BOESL and the expatriates’ welfare ministry
Hundreds of Employment Permit System (EPS) pass holders protesting delayed migration to South Korea blocked the road in front of Probashi Kallyan Bhaban in Dhaka's Eskaton today (14 May) before police removed them from the area in the evening.
The protesters, mostly from the 2022 and 2023 EPS batches, demanded reinstatement of nearly 12,000 excluded workers through an "auto-roster" system and greater transparency in the South Korea recruitment process.
They began demonstrations in the morning with a human chain, rallies and a sit-in programme in front of the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited office.
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The protesters alleged bribery, corruption and mismanagement within BOESL and the expatriates' welfare ministry. They claimed many workers remained stranded despite passing the EPS examination and waiting for more than two years.
"We passed the EPS examination with hopes of working in South Korea, but now our future is uncertain," one protester said.
Another protester, Abir, said his EPS validity expired on 4 April after waiting over two years without deployment.
The demonstrators also demanded suspension of new EPS circulars until the auto-roster system is introduced and called for multiple opportunities for 2022 and 2023 batch files to be sent to Korean employers.
A six-member delegation of protesters held several meetings with officials of the expatriates' welfare ministry during the day.
At a meeting held around 3:30pm, Expatriates' Welfare state minister Nurul Haque Nur said South Korea follows the same recruitment rules for 16 countries and Bangladesh cannot receive separate treatment.
"We will try to send you to South Korea, but we cannot give any timeline," he told the protesters.
He also said the government was trying to create opportunities in other countries for workers who could not go to South Korea and was working to introduce the auto-roster system.
Despite repeated assurances from the minister and ministry officials, the protesters refused to clear the road. Police later removed them from the area around 5:30pm.
