Migration process automation still far off

Aspirant migrants are having to make the rounds of manpower bureau and recruiting agency offices again and again to complete various processes that are still done through an analogue system. A fully-digitised migration system as promised in the FY22 budget is yet to see the light of day.

From pre-departure orientation to payments of migration fees to clearance from the manpower bureau office is a process a prospective migrant needs to complete manually, which is clearly a hassle. 

Remitters' contributions to the country's economy are being felt more widely now as the forex reserve is under pressure amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, but migrants are losing out on quality services they deserve, say stakeholders.  

Service automation and data bank development for remitters, which Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal claimed were underway in his budget speech for FY22, yet remain on paper. 

Workers under different professional categories would be hired from the data bank, the minister noted.

Currently, there is no effective registration system for aspirant migrants. That is why recruiters and employers cannot appoint them directly without the involvement of middlemen.

Shariful Hasan, head of Brac Migration Programme, said, "If the government thinks that registration is a must for migration, it has to make that mandatory for recruiting agencies. Picking people from the database should be made a prerequisite."

If it happens, the agencies will select hopeful migrant workers from the database and employers also will place their demand by using the system. In this way, there will be no need for middlemen," he added.

Md Shahidul Alam, director general of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), told The Business Standard, "An aspirant migrant needs to submit so many documents in person to obtain immigration clearance from the BMET office. If there is a system for online submission, we can easily check their information and give them certificates." 

A paradigm shift is being adopted to accommodate qualitative changes to labour migration and develop an information database of the recruiting agencies, he noted.

Stating that the process is now on to conduct pre-departure orientation online, he said, "Those who are trained this way will register online. We have already started practising that."

Some 14 lakh applicants have registered online for vaccination through the "Ami Prabashi" app. If they can get a clearance card, and training card on the basis of this, the selection of migrant workers will be easier.

"We are now discussing this with the app operating agency," he noted. 

"Ami Probashi" is a mobile app and a recruitment management system that aims to allow aspiring migrants to complete their mandatory registration into the BMET data bank, securely from the comfort of their homes.                                              

The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and the private concern Bangla Trac Group launched the app on 8 May last year. 

BRAC Migration Programme and Bangla Trac have signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure a vast reach of the "Ami Probashi" app among aspiring migrants.  The app operates on a service charge model and incurs zero cost for the government.