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Lobbying as a tool to expand overseas labour market

It is high time we thought of such research centres to grab global opportunities through effective lobbying. There are many private universities and big NGOs in Bangladesh, and they must come forward to establish research centres on lobbying and carry out research to help the country.

S.M. RUHULALAM
SLUMP in manpower export is a growing threat to our national economy as export of manpower is one of the foundations of our economy. Recently the UAE, which hosts estimated one million Bangladeshi workers, second highest after Saudi Arabia, imposed unofficial ban on receiving Bangladeshi workers. Saudi Arabia, the highest Bangladeshi labourer receiving country, reduced its labour market to Bangladeshi workers. Kuwait and Iraq have almost closed the door too.
Nevertheless, Middle Eastern countries are still receiving workers in full swing from India, Nepal, and Philippines though these are non-Muslim countries and not members of Organization of Islamic Conference (OlC).Why are influential Muslim countries reluctant to receive our labourers?
The American government has long been blindly supporting Israel financially and militarily. But why? Experts opine that ethnic lobbying by Israel is an effective way of influencing US foreign aid and defense policy decisions. As ethics of ethnic lobbying has become a subject of public criticism and scholarly debates, majority of studies focused on the Jewish-American lobbying groups that pioneered ethnic lobbying. Ethnic lobbying may advocate interests of a distinct group in the host country or may seek to influence foreign policy of the host country towards the country of origin or third countries.
Lobbying can be defined as a "deliberate attempt to influence political decision through various forms of advocacy directed at policymakers on behalf of another person, organisation or group." Lobbying plays a significant role in policy formulation in the host country (in our case, labourer receiving countries) both at domestic and at foreign policy level. Next,
lobbying contributes to a much better image of the labourer sending country.
India has effectively been using lobbying as a tool and getting benefits. For example, the American outlook towards India has been formed by a range of complex aspects and America's policy towards India has shifted from one of negligence to attention. In the post-Cold War era, Indo-US relations freed itself from historical baggage to a great extent. It mirrors Washington's changed conception of India in
the current world order and shows that both countries are no more grounded in obsolete conflicts of interest. This change has been a slow process in which a number of factors and actors are accountable.
With the end of the Cold War leading to a changed international scenario, increasing strategic and economic importance of India is one of the factors. An important reason for this increase is lobbying by India through India Caucus, Indian Americans as well as lobbying firms hired by the Indian government. The vital point is that the formation of India Caucus is a clear indication of fundamental change in the Congressional attitude towards India. Indian and Israeli lobbyists are also engaged by private sector e.g. business
groups, NGOs and ethnic groups along with government lobbyists.
Successful lobbying by India Caucus in the Congress has contributed to a much better image of India in the US. Can't we follow the success of India in order to export human resources to the Middle East? We must think of using lobbying as a tool to expand labour market in the labourer receiving countries of the Middle East. First, our identity as a Muslim country would be an effective tool to convince these countries. Who will convince the policy makers of these countries?
Obviously, lobbyists engaged by Bangladesh. Bangladesh has to have a few parliament members, policy makers and business firms of those countries who will lobby with the Middle Eastern governments. We always depend on government to solve problems. But the role of the private sector can also be effective in the current global situation.
Before starting lobbying some points must be considered critically. They are: selecting lobbyists; the goal of the lobbyists; making lobbying sustainable; and achieving the purpose through lobbyists by maintaining the law of the country of destination. There are many academic centres in India, Israel, Armenia, China, Turkey and Japan that do extensive research on lobbying. Because of these research centres those countries are getting excellent benefits through lobbying and becoming influential around the world.
It is high time we thought of such research centres to grab global opportunities through effective lobbying. There are many private universities and big NGOs in Bangladesh, and they must come forward to establish research centres on lobbying and carry out research to help the country.
The writer is Educator, Researcher and Development Specialist. Email: dtar.development@gmall.com