One lakh 75 thousand 758 expatriate Bangladeshis have returned to the country in the last six months. From April 1 to September 30, these expatriate Bangladeshis from 29 countries have returned to the country. Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Expatriate Welfare Desk sources said.
Assistant Director of the Desk. Fakhrul Alam said those who returned from April 1 to September 30 included 1,49,018 men and 16,740 women.
Fakhrul Alam said that these expatriate workers have returned to the country due to various reasons including non-availability of work due to global epidemic, expiry of work or contract, expiration of Akama, or visa. Many have returned to the country after being imprisoned for different terms and without passes.
Sources said that many of the returning workers will be able to return to their respective countries if the situation returns to normal.
Most of the returnees came from the UAE. 44,618 people have returned from the UAE due to a lack of jobs in various organizations. Of these, 41,460 are male workers. And three thousand 156 women workers have returned.
39,017 expatriate workers have returned from Saudi Arabia. Of these, 33,412 are male and 5,006 are female workers. Most of the Saudi returnees have returned to the country after being jailed for various periods with outpasses and on leave due to lack of work.
10,613 people returned to the country from Oman after being imprisoned for different periods. A total of 10,463 expatriate workers have returned from the tourist-dependent country of Maldives due to a lack of work due to coronavirus. Nine thousand 996 people have returned to the country from Kuwait due to the expiration of Akama or visa. Two thousand 694 people have returned from Singapore as their work period has ended. 921 people have returned from Bahrain.
61 expatriates have returned from South Africa due to a lack of work. 14 thousand 911 people have returned from Qatar. Seven thousand 56 people have returned from Malaysia. As many as 100 people have returned from South Korea since the agreement expired. Due to lack of work, 32 people returned from Thailand, 39 from Myanmar, 2,196 from Jordan, and 8,032 from Iraq.
As many as 121 people returned from Vietnam and 548 from Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, 151 expatriate Bangladeshis have been deported from Italy on suspicion of being infected with corona virus. These 151 expatriates were sent back to Italy from Bangladesh on July 8. After returning to the country, all of them were kept in quarantine under the supervision of the army.
In addition, 5,601 from Lebanon, 100 from Russia, 452 from Mauritius, 6,142 from Turkey, 55 from Nepal, 16 from Hong Kong, 106 from Cambodia, eight from Japan, 53 from London, 315 expatriates from Libya, and 128 from other parts of the world have returned to the country.
Regarding the rehabilitation of these repatriated workers, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed said the government has taken initiative to set up a fund of Tk 600 crore for the rehabilitation of repatriated workers and send them abroad again through re-training. In the Corona situation, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare has taken extensive measures for the overall welfare of the rehabilitated workers and the safe migration of expatriate workers.
Referring to the initiatives taken by the ministry, the minister said financial assistance of around Tk 10 (ten) crore for emergency food and other assistance to endangered expatriate Bangladeshis, financial assistance of Tk 3 lakh to the families of every expatriate Bangladeshi who died in Covid-19 as soon as possible; Five thousand rupees in cash assistance to quarantine workers returning from exposure to coronavirus; Initiatives for proper recognition and certification of experienced workers returning from abroad; Arrangements have been made to provide humanitarian assistance to the homeless, affected, poor workers and family members of Bangladeshi workers residing abroad under the ongoing assistance activities in the country including social security.
The minister further said that various projects have been undertaken including setting up a fund of Tk 600 crore for the rehabilitation of the affected foreign returnees. Under this, a four percent simple interest investment loan is being provided to the affected expatriate workers in Covid-19. A project worth Tk 200 crore has been taken up for this. Loans are being given on easy terms through the Expatriate Welfare Bank for the rehabilitation of the affected expatriate workers. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Prabasi Kalyan Bank and Wage Earners Welfare Board on July 12.