High migration cost makes labourers to overstay in UAE, says envoy

ANIS ALAMGIR

Exorbitant migration costs compel Bangladesh workers to become illegal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Bangladesh ambassador to the UAE Nazmul Quanine yesterday suggested reduction of migration costs for the Bangladeshi workers to avoid untoward incidents in the middle-eastern country. He made the comment while talking to The Independent over phone against the backdrop of the recent arrest of 60-labourer in Dubai. "Everyday we are getting news that one or two Bangladeshi workers got arrested here and this is not new for us", Quanine said, adding that it could be stopped when we send our people properly. Bangladeshi workers spend over Tk two lakh for migration and inmost cases they fail to earn that much money out of their low-paid job during the contract period, he said. "When their contact expires, they do not go back to the country; instead they stay illegally and look for another option to regain the money spent." "No country except Bangladesh is sending labourers spending so much money," he said adding that when Indian and Nepalese middlemen send their people at the sponsor's cost, Bangladeshi middlemen do that at the labourers' cost. Bangladeshi Manpower businessmen are collecting visas in a competitive manner and sometimes their costs go as high as US$ 1000 resulting in a high migration cost. The ambassador said that only 20 per cent labourers came to the UAE under embassy's supervision and the rest with the help of their relatives and friends staying in UAE. "Even those who are coming directly with the help of their relatives have to pay a huge amount to their relatives and friends," he said. On June 14 Dhabi police arrested 60 Bangladeshi nationals from a six-story building on charge of residing there illegally. The dilapidated building, which had 18 apartments, had hundreds of residents living in deplorable conditions. All those arrested were reported to have been absconding by their sponsors. Some of them were staying in that house in improper condition. Quanine said that now the arrested 60 Bangladeshi would have to face their case individually and it would take one or two weeks for judgement. "Normally such guilty people get a maximum of three months' time to leave, if there is no criminal cases against them." He said that in such cases their sponsors could be punished because it is sponsor's duty to provide proper lodgings to his workers.