[ALOCHONA] Misfortune-seekers

Misfortune-seekers

Manpower frauds thrive on corruption, inefficiency of govt's doorkeeper; Mohidul along with 38 others abandoned in Liberia by transnational gang

Courtesy Daily Star 3/10/10

Once a welder, Mohidul Islam used to earn around Tk 8,000 a month at a workshop of Halsha market in Kushtia. He owned eight decimals of land and three cows--comfortable assets for a poor villager. But within a few months he ended up in the gutter with a debt of Tk 2 lakh to a local loan shark.

The wheel of Mohidul's fortune overturned overnight as he went on a risky but ambitious mission abroad to earn more. Barely able to sign his name, he easily fell victim to an organised gang who promised him a $700-a-month welder's job in Liberia, a country he had never heard of.

On completion of "official formalities" in Dhaka, Mohidul set out on his journey to Liberia along with several others.

Soon after the overseas jobseekers arrived in Monrovia early February this year, they realised that Talk Fusion Nepay (Lib) Inc, the company they were hired for, existed only on papers.

Mohidul soon found out 38 other Bangladeshis were lured to Monrovia and dumped in this impoverished African nation, where 85 percent of the population live under $1.25 a day.

After months of struggle the dejected group returned home on June 1. Penniless and disheartened, many, including Mohidul now sell daily labour, while some others struggle to hide from loan sharks.

"I am under tremendous pressures for my loans. Sometimes I think of ending this life," says Mohidul, who spent about Tk 4 lakh in vain.

The Daily Star investigation finds how a transnational gang capitalised on the inefficiency and corruption of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), the government doorkeeper to prevent cheating of overseas jobseekers, and the airport immigration in Dhaka.

The BMET on record issued emigration clearances to 30 people who went to Liberia in different phases late last year and early this year, never raising a question as to when and how Liberia became a "job market" for Bangladesh.

The rest nine had no emigration clearance, which is mandatory for overseas jobseekers and issued only by BMET, though they went to Liberia with "work visas".

Officer-in-Charge (immigration) at Shahjalal International Airport Shamsuzzaman said it is not possible for the Bangladeshis to go to Liberia without clearance by BMET.

"They might have gone to Dubai or other destinations first and then to Liberia," he said.

Two of the nine victims, however, said they all went to Liberia with work visas and a broker named Mitul bribed an immigration officer before passing the immigration desk at Shahjalal International Airport.

According to normal practice, recruiting agencies or their sub-agents secure job demands or visas for the workers and apply to BMET for emigration clearances. The BMET is supposed to verify the documents through Bangladesh missions so that workers are not cheated.

Experts say BMET officials are, in most cases, able to identify dubious incidents on the basis of their experience. Moreover, every country seeking foreign workers can be contacted directly over the phone. As a gatekeeper BMET is expected to have several mechanisms to check and verify authenticity of every case.

In fact, says a source, whenever a dodgy deal is identified, "charges go two-fold up" for the emigration clearance.

"To keep their own records clean, they ask the agency or individuals to sign a written undertaking, in which the agency and the jobseekers take all responsibilities for any mishap," adds the source. "But legally the agency that seeks emigration certificates for jobseekers is always liable for anything that goes wrong."

For each of the 39 workers, the unscrupulous brokers first obtained fake work visas and job contracts on separate sheets, bearing names and other personal details.

According to documents, the recruiting agencies secured emigration clearances for 23 jobseekers from BMET, while seven got their emigration clearances on their own efforts. If any jobseeker secures emigration clearances themselves, they have to go to BMET personally.

BMET Director Selim Reza said he himself interviewed the jobseekers before issuing emigration clearances. "I thought Liberia could be a new labour market for Bangladesh," Reza added.

However, at least two of these seven said they never went to BMET before going to Liberia for any interview.

The agencies involved include HA International, Taslim Air International, Bangladesh Export Corporation, The Reach Eastern, Afia Overseas and Al Shikder Overseas. There are also names of AR Trade Ltd and East West Trade Linkers on the workers' passports, but not in the BMET records, which also means a lot of anomalies in emigration clearances process.

Contacted, officials of these agencies categorically denied their involvement in the Liberia scam. Some said they just helped the workers in securing emigration clearances and did not receive any money from them, while others said some conmen used their companies' names to cheat the jobseekers.

"My company secured emigration clearances for three individuals going to Liberia, but we know nothing who obtained visas for them," said Abul Bashar of East West Trade Linkers.

Immigration researchers, however, say there was surely a big money game on emigration clearance. "Passing the blame on conmen can't rid a recruiting agent of the responsibility when it gets the emigration clearance from BMET," says a recruiting agent.

"We don't have any embassy in Liberia to authenticate visas. So, we got written undertakings from the workers that they will be responsible for any unexpected incident," Khorshed Alam said.

Though the victims from Liberia lodged complaints with BMET against the recruiting agencies in mid-July, the authorities did not move for any action. Investigation into the complaints of the returnees is on, Khorshed said.

Meanwhile, Liberian police arrested five Bangladeshis and four Liberians, including Samuel Nepay, a Liberian and the Talk Fushion Nepay (Lib) Inc's self-proclaimed chairman, and charged them with trafficking, reported online news site allafrica.com on April 7.

Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan, secretary, Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, said it is very difficult to authenticate job visas, even if the country of destination has Bangladesh embassy.

His version reflects very well in the glaring examples of visa forgeries. For example, Libya deported 39 jobseekers early this year and 88 late last year for using forged visas and having no work permits. Deportation of workers by Dubai often takes place for the same reason.

The BMET received 1,419 similar complaints last year, and until July this year, it received 560 complaints of deception and exploitation, which migration researcher Joynal Abedin thinks just the tip of the iceberg.

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