BANGLADESH

The government will revise the Immigration Act within six months, the expatriates welfare and overseas employment secretary has said.

"We are taking everyone's opinion on the act and soon it'll be sent to the cabinet for approval," Jafar Ahmed Khan told the press on Sunday.

"The reformed act will let the aggrieved clients to lodge complaints at metropolitan magistrate's court if they are cheated or harassed when sent abroad. The existing law does not provide that authority," he said.

Khan also said the ministry will run its operations from Probashi Kalyan Building (currently Borak Tower) at Eskaton beginning on Dec 18.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the ministry activities at the new office, he told the press briefing at the ministry's conference room.

WORKSHOP ON EXPORT COSTS CUT

Khan said a two-day international workshop will begin on Monday on reducing the manpower export cost and developing bilateral relationship between manpower exporting and the importing countries.

Switzerland and Bangladesh will jointly organise the workshop. At least 50 representatives from 27 countries and 17 local and international and private organisations will attend the workshop.

Expatriates welfare minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain will inaugurate the workshop at 9:30am at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel which will end on Tuesday.

Khan said, "Bangladesh is trying to reduce the manpower export cost for long. The government will not compromise on it. But it's not possible for the country to fight alone."

"That's why the government is arranging this workshop with the manpower exporting and importing countries."

At least 11 countries from the Colombo Process including the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait will join the workshop.

Representatives of International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank would be joining the programme along with the representatives of locally acclaimed social and non-government organisations.

Secretary Khan said, "The sector contributes at least 12 percent to the country's GDP. Government statistics show that about 6.6 million Bangladeshis are working abroad while the actual figure is more than 10 million."

He said that many of them are working in several countries with which Bangladesh do not have any diplomatic relations.

According to a government statistics, earnings and exporting from this sector has increased 70 percent since 2001.