Middlemen still dominate migration from Bangladesh: Experts

Labour migration from Bangladesh continues to be dominated by the middlemen even after the government efforts to stop the unregistered brokers, migration experts said on Monday.  

At an event of the Bangladeshi Ovibashi Mohila Sramik Association in the capital, they suggested plugging loopholes in the existing laws by consulting with other stakeholders to prevent the brokers.

They also called for arranging better skill training and ensuring coordination among the public service providers to lower harassment of the aspirant migrants.    

"Still, the aspirant migrants are going abroad through the middlemen, which needs to be stopped," said Mahjabeen Khaled, secretary general of Parliamentarians Caucus on Migration and Development, at a view exchange meeting held in the capital. 

Masud Rana, Director (finance), the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said appointing sub-recruiting agents while making the recruiting agencies responsible can help prevent frauds. 

Advocate Khodeza Nasreen, a former lawmaker, said the violence women workers face abroad should be lowered apart from lowering middlemen's involvement in the migration process, 

The Caucus secretary general put special emphasis on providing training to the overseas job seekers, especially making those, who want to go abroad as domestic helps, used to household machinery.    

She thinks that making the desk officials at the airport aware can help lower harassment for the fortune seekers.  

Ishrat Parveen Ema, deputy program manager of the Manusher Jonno Foundation, advised to promote video-based training at the technical training centres alongside the module-based method. 

The speakers also stressed improving communication skills of the workers. 

Among others, the association's Chairman Lily Jahan, Secretary General Sheikh Rumana, and Advisor Farida Yeasmin also spoke at the event.