Dear Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Ejazur
I cannot differ with both of you. In my humble opinion the Government (political or be it is non political) is the root cause of all the problems. Little or no attention was given to NRBs by any quarter and by any Government though they are the major foreign currency earner for the country. I suggest:
· First thing the Government should do is to cut the number of the recruiting agents drastically. Government (political or non-political) never cared to control the recruitment process. The recruiting agents grew like mushrooms especially under the patronage of political governments and with the blessings of politicians who had ill-motives. It is difficult for any Government to control hundreds of the recruiting agents. There are big flaws in the recruitment process and it cannot be rectified unless you are dealing with limited no. of agents.
· Secondly, there should be restrictions on unskilled workers. Both of you must have experienced it and know more than me that we are portrayed as "Nation of Cleaners" in the Middle Eastern countries. This situation should not prolong anymore. Again, I shall be blaming all Governments (past and present) for their lack of far sightedness. When we started exporting manpower on large scale we should have realized and planned to train our manpower on vocational skills like electricians, plumbers, fitters, mechanics etc. etc. More importantly, they should have minimal knowledge of spoken language.
· Thirdly, we must have some national dignity. Competiveness is OK but we must have a fixed minimum salary. Why different companies in Saudi Arabia or that matter in Kuwait can get labors at as low price as at SR 250 or KD 20 only from Bangladesh but not from any other country. Again the Government is responsible for that. As a matter of fact this started at a very early stage when we started exporting manpower from Bangladesh on large scale. I know that the Government of Bangladesh in late 70's made a deal with ARAMCO (at that time Arabian American Oil Company now Saudi Arabian Oil Company) for supplying skilled manpower to that company. The military Government of Ziaur Rahman with Bureau of Manpower, Government of Bangladesh as the local agent of ARAMCO agreed to supply skilled manpower to ARAMCO at much lower wages compared to their counterpart from India and Pakistan. Above that, the job of an Indian or Pakistani was pensionable but the job of a Bangladeshi was not. The Government with its short sightedness did not realize the impact of it at later stages.
· Fourthly, we should try to export educated people like Engineers, Scientists and other Professionals especially in the oil sector. Our Engineers and Professionals, though very short in number, have done splendidly well generally in all sectors particularly in oil sector. Both of you know that the jobs in oil sectors in the Middle Eastern countries are very lucrative, better paid and better respected. (I believe that Brother Ejazur works in Oil Sector). We need to change our national image in these countries. People should realize that we are producing not only cleaners but Engineers, Scientists and other Professionals also.
However, all these are long term solutions. What is urgently required is to restore the confidence of these poor labors especially in Saudi Arabia. Again, Government in general and the Embassy in particular, will have to play a big role in it. Saudi Arabia is a big country. The Embassy staff should visit smaller cities and should talk with the people, may be in Drawing Room gatherings. If a worker has already signed a contract, I don't know the Embassy can be of any help. But the Embassy should help a worker out if he is not being paid regularly or he is being declined from his right for a vacation. Hardees Burger, Macdonalds or KFC may be a luxury to them but at the least they deserve two square meals in a day.
To Brother Mohammed, I know you are disappointed with the present state of affair in the country. I know no one can sing patriotic songs with empty stomach. I know that though we got an opportunity to get out of this situation after 1/11 but this opportunity was wasted again as some quarters got over ambitious. Only Allah knows if we are moving towards 2/22 which shall be more dangerous that 1/11.
Misuse of power is corruption. Be it is MIG 29 case, be it is NIKO case or be it is extending ones own service or be it is promoting himself to higher position. But I have the very firm conviction that we shall come out of this situation soon. We shall be able to do justice to all these evils. We shall prevail.
Lot of regards
Junaid
--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, "ezajur" <ezajur.rahman@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Mohammed Bhai
>
> Greetings to you from sunny Kuwait!
>
> The debate you refer to was not on the subject of labourers at all.
> Brother Junaid and I debating a different subject. Please note that
> we were aiming at a different bullseye.
>
> I agree with your statement that the origin of the problem is
> recruitment. Your statement aims correctly at the bullseye and
> travels accurately half way towards the bullseye. But it does not hit
> the bullseye. Because the bullseye on the labour issue, as on so many
> issues, is called –
>
> POLITICIAN.
>
> Who is elected to protect the interest of the labourer?
> Who is empowered to intervene on behalf of labourers?
> Who protects the interests of criminal manpower agents?
> Who promotes the interests of criminal manpower agents?
> Who is responsible for the enforcement of valid labour contracts?
> Who is responsible for the punishment of illegal labour contracts?
> Who is responsible for the policies of Embassies abroad?
> Who accepts bribes from criminal manpower agents?
> Who accepts campaign finance from criminal manpower agents?
> Who is responsible for the basic training of labourers?
> Who is responsible for the attitude of foreign companies to our
> labourers?
> Who is responsible for negotiating with foreign governments?
> Who is responsible for the image of Bangladesh in our labour markets?
>
> Some will just love to make excuses and give the answer – BUREAUCRAT!
>
> But the correct answer is POLITICIAN.
>
> Brother, pray for political reform, because without it our labourers
> will find no peace.
>
> Regards
>
> Ezajur Rahman
> Kuwait
>
>
>
>
>
> --- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, "Mohd. Haque" haquetm83@ wrote:
> >
> > I am new, looked at todays (22.03) mails, few looks interesting,
> > specially those on Kuwait issue. As I am writing from Saudi Arabia,
> a
> > small pinch of , the agony, pain and sufferings that these unpaid
> and
> > maltreated workers has to go through, is felt. Can not realize in
> > full but a little pinch. Hunger is only realized by the hungry. The
> > debaters indulged themselves in sophisticated wordings that like the
> > state department's release do not shoot the arrow to the bulls eye.
> >
> > Origin of the whole trouble is `recruitment', wrong people for
> > wrong job, for wrong incentives for wrong (inflated) cost. It seems,
> > so far no one bothered to look into the real issue. Perhaps the
> > perpetrator's strong link with the powerful. When the system fails
> to
> > provide handful of jobs yet successfully created enough barricades
> > and obstacles to all the available opportunities.
> >
> > 3 to 4 million jobs that creates a safety cushion for the economy
> > and for the society, as a major contributor to the national
> > exchequer, systematically being neglected and undermined. Recently,
> > joined the bandwagon of the western politics of hatred and acrimony
> > against the Mideast's society that also spills over the poor
> > Bangladeshis. Uneducated poor and dangerously politicized, half
> > educated and poorly qualified professionals from the systematically
> > destroyed educational system, from the middleclass who found in
> > their desperate quest for a living and on their own initiatives
> > landed in these countries only to stand alone for their own causes.
> > Government and its local embassies were not any hope, the officials
> > manned these places hopelessly untrained. They have less negotiating
> > power, their diplomacy usually proves inefficient, their prudence
> and
> > working abilities demonstrates poor output.
> >
> > When, little improvement could have benefited the country
> > enormously, left with such an incapable situation only proves that
> > how the whole machinery wants to put, not only the expats in serious
> > uncertainty but the whole nation at stake. As this has been done in
> > every aspect of our national resource building.
> >
> > Singing patriotic songs become the only means to make known how
> > much they love their country, when the country in last 37 years
> > attained very little, in relative or absolute terms, rather lost big
> > infrastructures what it had. But no one would agree to accept that.
> > Because they do not like to see their mentors are maligned.
> >
> > 2 million expats in Saudi passing fearful days, baily road, press
> > club, national media has no time and energy to focus on the matter
> > effectively. Human rights, civil rights national rights, human
> > dignity, national sovereignty does not imply here. A superfluous
> > notion, false pride and alien behavior eating away the vitals, the
> > traditional values of our nation. Yet the literates as usual busy
> > composing their next episode of unethical comics. What a pitty. Many
> > do not see this, they do not want to see this. They want us to think
> > on something else, more flashy.
> >
> > It is my conviction that economy has been systematically
> > destroyed, just see what has been built (with all the depriviation)
> > during 24 years of pak rule, world biggest jute mills, numerous
> > cotton and textile mills, sugar mills, steel mills,
> hydroelectricity,
> > three big universities, monumental parliament house, plan for
> nuclear
> > power etc. In 36 years how many Jahangirnagar university were built,
> > how many steel mills, paper mills, hydro power nuclear power plants
> > were set up, rather made to disappear what we had. This comparison
> > will appear as a dangerous phenomenon to many. As they simply can
> not
> > fathom the waist breaking hunger and biting cold or deprivation.
> > Half of the population remain in such a inhuman conditions simply do
> > not move them in its true reality, perhaps, because they have spat
> > their mentors in this case.
> >
> > Seeing a cleaner eating on paper on the roadside in Jeddah, when
> > I offered him a `hardees burger' he wondered `burger ki bhai', like
> > wise indulgence of our literates never really go deep into our real
> > trouble. Look at any institutions all occupied by the cronies. We
> > failed to build any credible institutions then blaming everything to
> > politicians. If the teachers in our unis do not understand what is
> > good and unitedly fights for it, passing the blame to others many
> > finds it tenable. When the main institutions suffers from
> credibility
> > and professionals dance like wolf they say- democracy.
> > No wonder with a significant force society has been divided in
> > dubious ideals, AL, BNP, that let the million to perish without
> basic
> > necessities. Few with lofty ideals but no sense of human feelings
> and
> > characteristics managed to gain a significant power to exert their
> > pressure, breaking us further, destroying our remaining basics with
> > clever design. If I may quote one- why Dhaka University kept
> > preoccupied with issues not mainly related to education, so that
> half
> > literates can be manipulated better. How our primary and secondary
> > education made to suffer under the hands of incompetents. Just find
> > out how many of those with lofty ideals strongly urging for a good
> > device to educate our nation. Very few.
> >
> > When they clamour for own literature, poetry, song or drama and
> > go against foreign, of all these, it is only because the cheap and
> > low quality of their song, novels, drama can be marketed for sale.
> > But they never see the foreign politics, unfair trade practice,
> > foreign interference, subservient policies and oppressive rules and
> > regulations of our governance, and destruction of our economy,
> > because they make their living out of it.
> >
> > Many with malicious behavior, submissive attitude and subservient
> > thinking that is being propagated through the powerful media, acts
> of
> > those effectively remain at large, those who sees them already
> > incapacitated by the national and international policies.
> >
> > We should strongly urge to educate our population first, mainly
> > on commerce and practical science. Next time you go on vacation, I
> > would urge being your compatriot, visit your primary or secondary
> > schools, check their library and spend 10 riyal, dirham or dinar to
> > donate text books or learning tools. These should be your best gift
> > to the nation and to those who after 37 years of our dream fight
> > still made to live in subsistence.
> >
> > Sending those illiterate laborers to Saudi, or middle-east, who
> > sent bulk of the remittance deserve serious attention. Our system
> > will not or can not assist much, but you can really help.
> > It is not their religion, not their culture, but it is our
> > national economy and pride all at a stake. 7 crore of your brothers
> > or sisters when lives on less then 100 taka (3 kilos of rice) as
> > human their only right now is food, not their thinking pattern or
> > what new tradition they should adopt.
> >
> > Haque
> >
> > Send instant messages to your online friends
> http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
> >
>
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