FE Report

The government is trying to expand the manpower export market to African countries as it is difficult to get jobs in popular destinations abroad due to the global recession, said Manpower and Overseas Employment Minister Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain in the parliament Sunday.

People have started to get jobs in African countries including Angola, Algeria, Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa and Libya, he said in reply to a question.

In response to another question, he said 38,208 Bangladeshis came back home in the first five months of this calendar year due to the global recession, illegal stay and being cheated by recruiting agencies.

Of them, 13,706 came back from Saudi Arabia, 12,401 from the United Arab Emirates, 8,551 from Malaysia, 458 from Kuwait, 313 from Oman, 688 from Singapore and 2,091 from other countries, he said.

Bangladesh sent abroad 212,332 people in the January-May period, according to statistics of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.

The government has a plan to rehabilitate those who have come back due to the global financial crisis, the minister said.

Replying to another question, the minister said the government has taken a number of measures to face the challenges of the global crisis and send more people abroad with jobs.

In the next fiscal, it is expected that 600 thousand Bangladeshis will go abroad with jobs, Mr Mosharraf said.

The government is trying to explore new markets for employment in east Europe, Africa and Iraq, he said adding that Libya, Lebanon, Russia, Romania, Sudan, Greece, Poland, Angola, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Botswana and South Africa are the potential destinations.

Libya and Lebanon recruited 7,810 and 6,094 Bangladeshis respectively in the first five months of 2009 and about 200 thousand are working in Singapore, the minister said.

The government is expected to start an 'Expatriate Welfare bank' by next year, the minister informed.

Responding to another question, he said from 1991 to 2009, 111,371 women found jobs abroad.