Economic growth and employment, at home and abroad became general issue and an area of concern for the youth. The major areas of apprehension were expressed at IID’s Policy Forum on Fairer Labor Migration on 15th August in Jashore which was followed by a Hello MP in the presence of a local Member of Parliament, Mr.Kazi Nabil and other government officials on the 16th of August 2018.
Being in a new environment can often be daunting and this is no different for migrant workers from Bangladesh, when they land in the destination country. They often fail to accustom themselves with the work equipments, food, culture and language of the destination countries which results in their return to Bangladesh. Interestingly Bangladesh is facing dual situation. On one hand they are suffering from both unemployment and underemployment (especially among the educated youth and unskilled labor force) and on the other hand, Bangladeshi labor force comprises a large number of unskilled/ semi skilled Indian migrant workers. This requires attention from the government to further promote labor skills among Bangladeshis and motivate aspirant migrants to learn from practical experience and adaptability while working abroad.
Most of the time migrants lack correct information about the opportunities because the agencies/middlemen misrepresent and mislead the aspirant migrant. Unwillingness of the aspirant migrants to undertake preparatory courses, skill development programs and to follow formal channel results in irregular migration and fraud. But there are government opportunities, which in most cases the aspirant migrantsare unaware of. In TTC, there are opportunities where people could go, take the training and learn about the benefits in working abroad. And this lack of information and malpractice of information comes as a barrier in the migrant’s life.
Due to language barrier, the migrants cannot understand the terms and conditions of the visa documents and job contracts. And they cannot verify either of the documents, as the paperwork is done by the middlemen which makes the migrants vulnerable to fraud.
In the Hello MP sessions, the youth presented their concerning issues around migration with the local Member of Parliament,Mr, Kazi Nabil. He suggested that aspirant migrantsshould have vocational training based on their job. He suggested that the students who are graduating from pubic university in Bangladesh should be given the opportunity to change their course if they want, so that they do not feel confined.
The overall discussion was a part of IID’s Youth for Policy initiative that promotes policy and advocacy on youth , skills and employment at home and abroad.
