FROM PAGE 12

We must address the issue globally. Migrant-receiving countries cannot avoid responsibility,” he said.

Bangladesh raised the issue at a time when some of the labour-receiving countries, mostly Middle Eastern ones, are putting pressure on labour-sending countries, mostly in South Asia, to repatriate migrants whose jobs have been terminated in the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For example, the United Arab Emirates said it would review labour relations with countries that do not repatriate jobless migrants terminated by the private sector due to the pandemic.

Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain also said they want the undocumented migrants and those in deportation centres and jails to be repatriated. Kuwait even declared amnesty for undocumented migrants so they could be repatriated.

Apart from that, drop in oil prices and shutdowns have caused a slowdown of economic activities in all of the countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, home to some eight million Bangladeshi migrants. Construction projects, as well as other industries, may go for partial layoffs if the pandemic lingers, officials said.

A large portion of the migrants, except for those involved in emergency services like cleaning, healthcare, transport, agriculture, groceries, are now jobless. If the pandemic persists, many more may lose jobs, officials in the Middle East and Southeast Asia have said.

It has become an issue of concern for Bangladesh, which received $18 billion in remittance in 2019. The World Bank said Bangladesh’s remittance from migrants could decline by 22 percent in 2020.

Foreign Minister Momen said return of migrants in large numbers will also create further concerns about how to create jobs for them domestically.

“We will surely see how we can domestically manage the returning migrants. But before that we need to protect the rights of our migrants while they are abroad. We cannot see them being terminated abruptly and returned home,” he said.

Bangladesh ambassadors too are working to help migrants, including providing them food assistance, he noted. Expatriates’ welfare ministry has allocated Tk 10 crore for 30 Bangladeshi missions abroad to ensure food assistance to migrants in distress.

Nahida Sobhan, Bangladesh ambassador to Jordan, said she has already held meetings with the garment factories employing some 50,000 Bangladeshis.

“We have asked the factory owners not to terminate the workers as long as their contracts do not expire,” she told The Daily Star yesterday.

“We will continue our efforts to ensure the best for our migrants,” Nahida said.