& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Manpower export, agents and reality

Abdul Alim
IN the manpower industry our policy makers seem happy with the ever-increasing remittances, though frequently irritated by media exposures of the unsavoury activities of unscrupulous manpower agents. This juxtaposition of visible remittance by temporary migrants and unethical activities of some recruiting agents, has suddenly attracted most of the think-tanks' attention to this hitherto uncared for sector. Dialogues, round-tables, seminars are focusing on how to nurture and revamp the golden egg laying goose and curb the exploitation of workers.
Suddenly, there is an influx of NGOs, civil societies, government bodies, international organisations, donors and even unheard of institutions, pulsating with concern to free poor migrants from the grip of greedy recruiting agencies. Many of them think of recruiting agencies not as employment mediators but as employers, and make them accountable for
almost everything that can go wrong in foreign countries. To them, it seems foreign employers and foreign governments are non-entities in the whole gamut of migration. To them, it is the recruiting agencies alone that are the “do-all" in recruiting regime.
The recent ouster of about 1000 workers from Kuwait has jolted the perception of our round-table talkers. This unfortunate incident is a blessing in disguise for the recruiting trade, as it has brought to the fore one of the most important aspects - issue of post-migration management of expatriate workers. In fact, the Kuwaiti time-bomb was ticking for a pretty long time. The awakening alarm was given by Saudi Arabia when it ousted a few hundred Bangladeshis on allegations of "criminal activities'' and stopped issuance of new visas.
On the heels of faltering manpower export came the blast of the global financial meltdown. Giant multinational financial institutions have been vanishing. Hundreds of thousands of workers are being retrenched. Though very far from centre-stage, our shores have been hit by
this tsunami also. Three of the major destination countries - UAE, Malaysia and Singapore -- are bearing the brunt. Naturally, manpower export started to slide down, and data of first two months of 2009 showed decline of 42% compared with same period in 2008. This trend is viewed as the forerunner of declining remittance.
Is the situation bad enough to induce panic? Perhaps not Allowing a growth of 20%, our benchmark manpower export figure for 2009 should be around 5 lakh. The abnormal figure of above 8 lakh in 2007 and 2008 was caused by a sudden
surge in real estate growth in Dubai and high demand in Malaysia as a result of the huge gap created by eviction of about five lakh illegal foreign workers.
Looking at the present trend in manpower export, this year's figure will cross 6 lakh, well above the expected benchmark On the other hand, media projection of the number of retrenched workers coming back is over-blown. The total number of returnee workers in January and February is 12,839, out of which 12,385 came with "out-pass." This means that they either entered the host country
illegally or turned illegal by absconding from their jobs - and are certainly not recession-victims. Only 454 (all from UAE) came back with their passports, which means they were sent back by the employer.
Retrenchment is primarily affecting manager and mid-level employees. Low-end workers are virtually untouched due to their economic necessity. In the worst scenario, supposing downward economic swing is yet to reach the lowest level, our total recession-driven retrenched workers will not reach 20,000 -- simply a dot in our 6 million expatriate population.
When the Malaysian government cancelled 55,000 visa approvals for
-Bangladeshis, irwas taken to such heights that the government used all means to
appease the Malaysian policy makers. It was not necessary, because these residual
block approvals, mainly to factory owners, were issued in 2007, just before the global economic slow-down started. Fearing recession, the employers simply chose not to issue demand letters to recruiting agents. Only few thousand out of this 55,000 are in different stages of processing. The official level approach to allow processing of pipeline cases should have sufficed.
Though Malaysia's manufacturing sector is facing problems due to dependence on the western market, the plantation and construction sector is booming -
- and they need a large number of workers. Our government should target this upcoming opportunity.
The government's apparent reliance on NGOs and civil society for policy guidelines is not helping pragmatic decision-making. It is always fruitful to take the private sector along, however incompetent its representation may be. Unfortunately, BAIRA is not being able to play the desired supportive role to the government. They must shift from from money-based to knowledge-based manpower regime.
The real problem of the manpower export sector lies in the country, not outside. Governed by the obsolete Emigration Ordinance 1982, this sec-. tor (Could neither wriggle out of social stigma fuelled by a section of media, NGOs and civil society, nor could it unlock its true potentials. Contributing so much to the nation, the real players of this sector are still unsung.
The looming uncertainty of the global crisis is an opportunity to revamp the whole trade and bring in needed reforms. All the ears are in listening mode. Now is the time to recover the rightful position, steer the country out of crisis, and free it from poverty syndrome -- which only this sector can do with ease and speed.
Abdul Alim is a recruiting agent. Email: satrading8@yahoo.com.