Rising numbers of poorly protected female migrant workers

Overseas employment opportunities for female migrant workers are growing despite significant lack of workplace protection, according to speakers at an event on Monday. 

The safety of Bangladeshi working women in foreign countries, especially the Middle-East, must be ensured, they said.

The Brac Migration Programmme organised the event on the occasion of International Women's Day 2022 at Brac Centre.    

According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), more than 10 lakh migrant women workers went to various countries, many to countries in the Middle East, between 1991 and January 2022. 

Saudi Arabia is the top migration destination where 4.13 lakh Bangladeshi women are currently employed. 

"Migration related information is not reaching the grassroots level properly and we should raise awareness in this regard," Mahjabeen Khaled, secretary general of the Parliamentary Caucus on Migration and Development, said in her speech as chief guest.

"We also need coordinated efforts to resettle women who return home to the country, and female officers should be appointed at foreign missions so that workers can easily communicate with them," she added.

Wage Earners' Welfare Board Director Musharrat Jebin said, "Some of the returnees are doing fine, while others face hardships. We need to learn about their difficulties and work on solutions collectively."

She also mentioned various government initiatives that are being taken for the welfare of returning female migrant workers.

Around one lakh women workers went to different countries in 2019 alone, but the number dropped to only 21,000 in 2020 due to the pandemic. 

However, last year, around 80,143 Bangladeshi women left the country for employment abroad.

Shariful Hasan, head of the Brac Migration Program, said, "Female migration is gradually rising but many are returning home too. Around 50,000 women returned home to the country during the Covid-19 pandemic."

We have to ensure safe migration and workplace protection for female workers, he added.

Women need to engage in a variety of professions, besides working as house-help in foreign countries, said Tapati Saha, a UN Women Bangladesh official.

Jasiya Khatoon, director of Welfare Association for the Rights of Bangladeshi Emigrants (WARBE), proposed launching a separate programme for women workers at the Expatriate Welfare Bank. 

"Despite playing a role equal to migrant male workers, women are not getting equal recognition. The migration cost for women is only modestly less than for men, but women are far ahead in ensuring the proper use of remittance. We all need to recognize the contributions of female workers to ensure their dignity," said Nazia Haidar, a programme manager at the Bangladesh Mission in Switzerland.