BANGLADESH

The government will cap immigration cost within three months to facilitate more Bangladeshi people's going abroad for employment, a top official has said.

Expatriates' welfare and overseas employment secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan told at a press conference in the city on Tuesday that the cost would be fixed after holding discussions with the ministry concerned and manpower exporter association.

"The immigration costs of the neighbouring countries will be reviewed… the cost should not be more than three months' earnings of an expatriate," he said.

Jafar said: "The cost is being higher for visa trade. Money amounting to 2-3 times the real cost is being taken from the immigrants. It's very inhuman. This can't be a business rule. It should be banned.

The press conference was organised on the closing day of a two-day international workshop at Hotel Ruposhi Bangla.

Bangladesh and Switzerland organised the workshop to reduce the immigration costs through discussions with the manpower recruiting countries and prepare a model agreement.

Fifty representatives from 27 countries, including the 11 of the Colombo Process -- a regional consultative process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour for countries of origins in Asia -- and 17 international and non-government organisations took part in the workshop.

Representatives of International Organisation for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank participated in the workshop.

Representatives from Welfare Association of Repatriated Bangladeshi (WARBE), BMDF, BRAC, CARAM Asia, IMA Foundation, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) and GFMD (Switzerland) also took part in it.

Eight recommendations were placed at the workshop by different non-government organisations (NGOs), government representatives and international organisations and seven recommendations by the manpower recruiting countries.

The recommendations will be placed in the annual conference of Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), formed under the supervision of the UN, at Geneva in Switzerland on Dec 1-2.

"The final decision will be made in the conference in presence of the high-level representatives. There will be obligation on the countries concerned to comply with the decisions made in the conference," Khan added.

He also said the issued would be discussed in the 'Abu Dhabi Dialogue' – talks between the 11 Colombo Process countries and 9 other countries – at Manila in the Philippines in April next year.