Baira goes on the offensive
It should play its due part in the process
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) has suspended its personnel export activities for an indefinite period in protest against the government's role in recruitment in foreign job markets. The organisation claims that it had discussed and finalised with different countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, the process of sending workers abroad but that the state's half-hearted involvement has brought the process to a standstill.
While it had initially welcomed the government's participation in the process, the latter has failed to send workers abroad even six months into the process. The current government-to-government arrangements exclude some 1,200 registered private recruiting agencies from exporting labour and Baira has decided to disengage itself from the process until the state authorities feel their need.
We recognise Baira's significant contribution to labour export over the years, having sent abroad 8.5 million people between 1982 and 2012, with the remittance inflow crossing the US$ 14-billion mark in 2012. We must, however, note the exorbitant costs charged to migrant workers, sometimes to the extent of exploitation, which had actually brought the government into the picture. Besides, fraudulence crept into private sector management and follow-ups avoided on the persons sent on employment abroad with the result that many of them got stranded.
The best arrangement, however, would obviously be cooperation between the government and private sector -- the former in order to cut down costs and regulate the process, the latter because of its decades of experience in managing it. To this end, we hope that Baira will sit with the government to decide on how best they can the manpower export sector hand in hand with the public sector. They should be able to strike a balance between private and public sector participation. For the benefit of our migrant workers, as well as for the good of the nation's economy overall, we hope that both parties will put in their best concerted efforts into the process of sending workers abroad.
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