Jamil Mahmud

Sending migrant workers abroad continued to remain inadequate amid the pandemic compared to what the situation was during pre-pandemic times, which posed a challenge for the labour migration sector.

About 8.81 lakh migrant workers, with an average of 58,758 per month, were sent abroad in 15 months from January, 2019 to March last year, says Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) data.

But the number of new overseas employment dropped to 2.84 lakh or 16,731 per month in 17 months from April last year to August this year, according to the data.

Bangladesh stopped sending new workers abroad in late of March last year, with closure of international flights, following detection of the first Covid-19 positive cases in the country.

In the next three months -- from April to June last year -- not a single new worker was sent abroad. Later, sending workers resumed in July last year, but the monthly average continued to remain low.

The government has a target to send at least seven lakh workers abroad annually.

Sector insiders said shutdown to contain Covid-19 affected the sector badly, as activities regarding visa processing and

medical tests of workers were hindered greatly until recently.