Migrants Day message

THE international Migrants Day for the year 2013 was observed on Wednesday as majority of Bangladeshi expatriates and workers abroad expressed their concern over the political unrest and violence prevailing in the country. It is now imperative to free our expat Bangladeshis of worries and fear, and this job is now up to our politicians.
With Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve touching the $17 billion mark, it is now second after India in South Asia, in terms of a huge forex reserve. However, the lion's share of this foreign reserve comprises remittances sent by our expat Bangladeshi workers scattered across the globe. According to the World Bank Bangladesh stands 7th among the 10 top nations that earns the maximum remittances.
Reading between the lines, we would say the above scenario could have been an even better one. Though increase in remittance rose by 211 percent with over a million workers sent over the past 4 years, yet a number of potential markets for manpower export remain unexplored. A number of markets in the Middle-East and in the South Asian countries were shut down -- where once our intrepid workforce was ahead of others.
In the end, if the image of the country improves it will impact positively on the lot of the workers.