REMITTANCE earnings of migrant workers significantly contribute to the economy. Yet, government services for them remain inadequate and unsatisfactory. In a multi-stakeholder consultation meeting in Dhaka on September 30, civic groups called on the government to improve its labour migration services. The government agencies, mainly the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training and the Wage Earners鈥� Welfare Board, have no clearly defined mandates, which often creates confusion for workers and leaves them unprotected. The WARBE Development Foundation alleges that the WEWB, which manages a fund generated from the migrant workers鈥� contribution, misuses the fund and spends it on administrative purposes, deprioritising workers鈥� welfare. The government officials present at the meeting have acknowledged the policy gaps and said that the government has plans to make laws and related programmes more worker-friendly. The reform initiatives of the interim government talks more about the expansion of the labour market than about the protection of its labour. Meanwhile, the arrival of bodies of Bangladeshi migrants from abroad increased to a record high in 2024, with 4,813 corpses received by the authorities in 2024.
The allegation of the misuse of the workers鈥� welfare fund is not new. The Expatriate Welfare Bank was established with an initial capital from migrant workers鈥� contribution but it has failed to serve its purpose of providing migrant workers with financial services because of corruption. From 2011 to 2017, the specialised bank extended rehabilitation loans to only 156 returnee migrant workers and provided migration loans for only 22,836 workers when more than 3.3 million workers migrated. Migrant rights activists have been talking for decades about the lack of support for workers in Bangladesh consulates and embassies in destination countries. In the case of a deportation of a migrant or repatriation of the body of a worker, the government support is inadequate. There should be a mechanism in place to negotiate decisions of deportation on unjust grounds that have largely been taken unilaterally by authorities in destination countries. The attempt on part of the employer or authorities in destination countries to promptly categorise the migrant worker鈥檚 death as 鈥榥ot work-related鈥� or 鈥榥atural鈥� allows them to avoid taking responsibility for repatriating the body or facing legal consequences for any violation of labour rights. Successive governments have played almost no role in holding the employers in destination countries accountable.
The government should, therefore, take steps to address the policy gaps and ensure that the welfare fund serves worker interests. The government services for workers at the consulate level must be improved; and, trained human resources and dedicated financial resources must be there. Most important, the government should initiate dialogues with governments of the destination countries to ensure a safe labour migration.