Editorial
Good news for Libya returnees
But look for opportunities elsewhere too
It is very welcome news that those of our workers who had returned home because of the civil war in Libya might be reemployed in their old jobs. Given that our expatriate-worker front had to suffer the consequences of the Arab Spring that impacted negatively on the foreign exchange remittances and our foreign reserve, we greet the news wholeheartedly. Nearly 38,000 Bangladeshis, mostly construction workers, returned following the conflicts in Libya. There were a large number of engineers, doctors and nurses employed in Libya till the start of the turmoil.
It must be noted that the problem of our workers in Libya was handled fairly well, and the credit must go to the IOM as well as the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment for not only managing eventually, after some initial problems though, to either get most of them back or relocate them elsewhere in safer places.
What needs to be done now is to ensure that these workers get back to their jobs without any hassle, given that the employers will pay airfares of the workers re-employed, and they will not have to make any payment for re-employment. What needs to be done too is to see to it that all those that had returned and are now willing to go back, can do so, and 80 percent among them want to return.
We would like to also emphasise the need for the government to look for further openings of employment in not only Libya but also elsewhere, particularly in the Middle-east where post conflict rebuilding has become necessary. And this has to be done quickly given that our labour market has shrunk quite a bit in the last three years, particularly our long time traditional markets like Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments