Friday, 29 March, 2024, 2:28 PM
Advance Search
Home

Safeguarding female migrant workers

Published : Thursday, 25 November, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 879

Safeguarding female migrant workers

Safeguarding female migrant workers

In recent times, especially since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, remittances sent by Bangladeshi migrant workers to the country have been making a significant contribution to the country's economic recovery. At present in our country, men as well as women are going abroad to find employment to contribute to the economy of Bangladesh.

According to BMET, over 0.84 million Bangladeshi women have migrated abroad since 1991. About ninety eight percent of them migrated to the Middle Eastern countries as domestic workers. Saudi Arabia alone recruited over 0.3 million female housekeepers from Bangladesh.

In the past four years, more than 5,000 Bangladeshi women have returned from Saudi Arabia amid allegations of inhumane treatment and abuse against their employers. According to BRAC's migration program, in 2018 alone, at least 1,500 women returned home from Saudi Arabia. It seems that they are completely affected by such tragic events. It is not one or two or even 10, but in the Middle East, an average of about 100 female migrant workers die each year.

To be precise, 473 women from the Middle East returned to the country as dead in about 5 years, of which 175 died in Saudi Arabia. Sadly, in the last four years, 81 female migrant worker has committed suicide in different countries. In 2019, the bodies of at least 63 female workers were repatriated. Twenty-two of them died in Saudi Arabia alone. Even after that, Bangladeshi women are going to different countries including the Middle East in the hope of changing their destiny.

A recent study on women migrant workers across 22 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America geographic region finds them experiencing serious gender-based violence and harassment starting from insults to intimidation, physical abuse and sexual assault. The study conducted by the Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women (GAATW) was aimed at documenting the behavior of violence, harassment and exploitation women migrant workers face and the way they handle such abuses.

GAATW have observed that, after being victims of gender-based violence, a group of Bangladeshi housemaids have decided to migrate abroad. Another group of Bangladeshi women workers were forced to maneuver abroad for their family crisis.

There is no dedicated office for arbitration cases for migrant workers of Bangladesh. As a result, their claims remain unfulfilled. In many cases, the compensation settled by the arbitration is sort of low. According to BMET data, they received about Tk 2.9 million in compensation through arbitration for 315 woman returnees in 2018 which meant that each woman got only Tk nine thousand and two hundred each. Where they had to spend Tk ten thousand to Tk Hundred thousand for migration.

The report from the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment stated, they spoke to about 110 female domestic workers returning from Saudi Arabia. Thirty-five percent of them returned home after physical and sexual abuse, and forty four percent were not paid regularly. Sadly, there is no end to the suffering of those who are able to survive the ordeal. In many cases, their families do not want to accept them, others are traumatized. Though foreign exchange reserves are booming with the remittances they send.

Meanwhile Saudi authorities have ascertained Bangladesh of taking all necessary moves to confirm the safety of Bangladeshi female workers in their country. The recruiting agency will provide residential and other facilities for the workers awaiting repatriation. Relevant agencies will notify the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh and the Ministry of Labour and Social Development of Saudi Arabia when a female employee's term of office expires or when the employee wishes to extend their working period there.

If a female worker has a problem, the Saudi Department of Security and Protection will first inform the relevant authorities.The Saudi authorities will first verify the employers, and only then will they allow female workers to travel there as part of an initiative to ensure their safety. In addition, Bangladeshi workers are at greater risk in times of crisis, since they are mostly inefficient or semi-skilled, and widely employed in less productive sectors.

Women workers should be trained before being sent abroad. The government should be responsible and concerned about the security of women workers. Instead of housemaids, women workers should be sent to caregivers, garments or other occupations. If any torture or harassment of women workers happened, arrangements for their assistance should place immediately.

After returning to the country, women workers have to undertake various programs including rehabilitation to ensure their normal life. Once the technical training of the workers is ensured, this will increase employment scope and the safeguard and rights of migrant workers in line with the global market. This will go a long way in upholding the interests of migrant workers and benefiting the economy of Bangladesh in a healthier way.

A study found, about 57 percent of women acquired immigration costs to go abroad with employment, although it was previously announced that there was no need to pay government-sponsored women workers for foreign jobs.

Moreover, the majority of outbound woman workers nearly sixty four per cent failed to receive job contracts before their departure. Without participating in the mandatory pre-departure training course provided by BMET, 25 percent of Bangladeshi women workers received fake training certificates from sub-agents.

Authorities should raise awareness about safe migration and problems around migration that women face. At the same time, we should always also establish a unified platform that has information on available jobs abroad and reliable recruitment agencies. Recruiting agencies, embassies and labour branches in our destination countries need to monitor whether they support female migrant workers who are facing any problems.

Collecting separate data on the remittance earned by females is essential to understanding the contribution of female migrant workers to our GDP and determining how to increase it. Due to the lack of support centres, women workers are unable to get legal aid even if they want. That is why, more grassroots initiatives should be taken to establish support centers for women.
Barrister Zahid Rahman writes
from the United Kingdom









Latest News
Most Read News
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
  [ABOUT US]     [CONTACT US]   [AD RATE]   Developed & Maintenance by i2soft