Political turmoil drives labour export to 35-month low in August

Infographic: TBS

Bangladesh experienced a sharp decline in labour exports in August, marking the lowest number in 35 months, mainly due to political unrest.

The country sent a mere 50,426 workers abroad in August, a 29% decrease from the previous month and a staggering 63% drop year-on-year, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

Experts and officials attribute the drastic decline to the political turmoil in the country, particularly the widespread student protests that began in early July and intensified as the month progressed and eventually toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led government on 5 August.

A major factor contributing to the decline in August was a 44% reduction in employment opportunities in Saudi Arabia, the top destination for Bangladeshi workers. 

The Saudi embassy's suspension of visa processing due to the overall political instability in Bangladesh significantly impacted the migration process.

The labour sector has also seen a marked decrease in BMET clearance card issuances as recruiters struggled to process applications amidst the unrest.

Despite these challenges, labour recruiters are optimistic that the situation will turn around as the political climate improves.

They expect that the full effects of the nationwide unrest on foreign job placements will become more apparent in September, as the migration process typically takes over two months to complete.

"The recent student-led mass movement has led to a stalemate, causing significant disruptions in many essential operations related to worker recruitment. Notably, the Saudi embassy in Dhaka had not conducted any operations related to this matter for at least four weeks," Tipu Sultan, joint secretary general of the immediate-past committee of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told TBS.  

Closure of Malaysia's labour market also a factor

Meanwhile, the closure of the Malaysia labour market is another reason for the fall in foreign employment in the last three months.

In June this year, Bangladesh dispatched 55,045 workers abroad. That was before Malaysia halted the entry of foreign labourers at the beginning of the month, a suspension that remains in place. 

Tipu Sultan called for intensified diplomatic efforts to reopen the labour market in Malaysia.

Saudi Arabia recruited the highest number of workers, 26,843 last month, which was 47,867 in July, followed by the UAE, Qatar, Singapore, and Kuwait.

Most workers are going to work for the construction industry, and some are also in the service sector and housekeeping in Saudi Arabia.

Sazzad Hossain Sarkar, deputy director (immigration) of the BMET, told TBS, "Recruiting agencies typically submit demand letters for jobs, along with the workers' passports, to the Saudi embassy in Dhaka for visa processing. However, we have heard that last month the agencies were unable to submit these documents due to the embassy being closed."

He added, "Additionally, compared to previous months, there has been a decrease in the number of applications submitted for BMET clearance cards here as well. I hope everything will return to normal starting this month."

Besides the traditional labour market in the Middle East, some European countries continuously hire workers from Bangladesh, although in small numbers.

Of them, 253 went to Croatia, 116 to Cyprus, 269 to Portugal, 173 to Romania, 322 to Serbia, and 125 to the UK last month.

Meanwhile, a few thousand Bangladeshis are facing uncertainty about their jobs in Europe due to the suspension of Indian visas, as they have to obtain their visas from India for their onward journey to western destinations, according to the Recruiting Agencies Association of Bangladesh for Europe and Developed Countries. 

Countries like Croatia, Poland, Romania and Portugal do not have missions in Bangladesh. If Bangladeshis want to go to these countries, they need to go to India for visas.

Since the Indian Visa Application Centre has remained closed since early August, Bangladeshis seeking to travel to those countries on work visas are in great trouble, sector insiders say.

Although Bangladesh sent 60,000 to 70,000 workers per month in the pre-Covid period, the number increased to more than 100,000 in the post-Covid era.

Bangladesh received a whopping $2.2 billion in remittances in the just concluded month of August, registering a 39% year-on-year increase, according to Bangladesh Bank data.