Cheated workers denied justice

In January last year, Mosharraf Hossain along with 26 other Bangladeshis went to Iraq to work for a construction firm. Some local brokers arranged their jobs through four Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.Each of the poor men paid Tk 2.5 lakh for the job in what the agencies said was an Iraqi company. Like in most cases, they gave the money without any receipts.Under the verbal agreement, they were to get a minimum monthly pay of Tk 25,000 plus lodging. But when they landed in the Middle East country, there was no job. The agencies' brokers confined them at a labour camp of the company, M Kodia General Trading, in Najaf city and asked them to wait.But it soon became clear to them that they were cheated by the brokers and the agencies, and contacted their families back home. After living in terrible conditions for nearly a year, they returned home empty-handed between November last year and January this year with the help of the Bangladesh Mission there.Currently, at least 180 more Bangladeshis, who were similarly cheated by brokers and agencies, are now enduring immense suffering.

CHEATED YET NOT COMPENSATED

On his return in December last, Mosharraf, from Tangail, and some of his fellow jobseekers submitted a written complaint to the expatriates welfare and overseas employment ministry demanding compensation and action against the agencies.But the ministry officials told the victims that they could not take any action if the victims could not submit evidence of their contracts with the agencies.Evidence there was none, as they had only verbal contracts with the brokers. So, none save for three of them got a penny back.The three that got their money back were unusually lucky, as their hiring agencies in Dhaka -- East Bengal Overseas and Idea International Overseas -- willingly returned the sum after they came back. The two other agencies -- Meghna Trade International and Morning Sun Enterprise, also based in Dhaka -- have simply vanished.“My local broker took the money on behalf of the agency. Besides, the agency arranged everything for my departure to Iraq. So why the agency will not compensate me?” Mosharraf, 40, told The Daily Star recently.Hundreds of brokers have been working on behalf of the agencies across the country for years, but the government can't hold them responsible because of loopholes in the relevant laws.Last year, the government passed the Overseas Employment and Migrant Workers Act-2013 to protect Bangladeshis working abroad. But it has no provision for taking action against brokers.“Incidents of the migrants being cheated are rising alarmingly, but the victims are not getting justice in the absence of a proper law,” Prof Tasneem Siddique, founder chairman of Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit, told this correspondent.

BACK TO SQUARE ONE          

Before going to Iraq, Mosharraf used to be a farmer and Tofazzal Hossain of Dinajpur, another cheated jobseeker, a day labourer. Life was hard as they often had no work. They wanted a change.It was then that they came to know about jobs abroad from the brokers. The middlemen assured them of jobs and good pay, but demanded Tk 2.5 lakh from each. Desperate, both men borrowed the money from local lenders and banks to pay them.But little did they know their money would buy them sufferings, not jobs. Once in Iraq, the two along with the 25 others were dumped in the labour camp that had no running water or electricity. The camp is in a desert area, so it was very hot.“They gave us little food and treated us like prisoners. We could not move outside the camp. They threatened to shoot us if we tried to go outside the camp,” Tofazzal told The Daily Star over the phone.With their money lost and dreams shattered, it was a nightmare that these men left behind.Back home, Mosharraf and Tofazzal, like many others of the group, returned to farming and working as day labourer.Shaon Ali, who claimed to pay the brokers Tk 3.7 lakh, now works as a salesman in his Meherpur hometown.With his college education, he thought the job in Iraq would change his life. It did, but only the other way around.“I have no hope that I will get my money back,” said the 19-year-old boy.   

NO PUNISHMENT?

Government officials say it is difficult to bring to book the middlemen under the law because the victims cannot produce any evidence.At present, some 880 recruiting agencies are doing manpower businesses in the country, according to Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET).Under the law, the agencies can open offices across the country, but brokers who work as sub-agents for them are not recognised in the law.Government officials argue that they cannot punish the agencies for the illegal activities of the middlemen.But Prof Tasneem disagrees.“If the government wants to protect the migrants, there are many clauses in the new law to bring the brokers or the fraud agencies to book,” he said.Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) offers an alternative solution. Top leaders of the association recommend that the government recognise the brokers in the law so that the victims and law enforcers can sue them.“When the sub-agents [brokers] are brought under the legal jurisdiction and are allowed to work with the agencies, the government can hold them accountable,” said Ali Haider Chowdhury, vice-president of Baira.Taking advantage of loopholes in the law, a section of agencies in connivance with the middlemen are cheating hundreds of jobseekers for years.Over the last one year, the government has taken some actions against them but that could not deter them from cheating these people badly in need of jobs.Nurul Islam, joint secretary (employment) of the ministry, said they took punitive action against fraud agencies upon specific allegations. The actions include cancellation of licence or forfeiting the security money.Between January and September this year, the ministry received at least 110 complaints against recruiting agencies. Upon investigation, licences of six agencies have been suspended.“We want to send a strong message to the agencies that nobody is above law and anyone cheating jobseekers will face punishment,” said Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, expatriates welfare minister.The minister, however, called on the jobseekers to verify if the job offer is legal or illegal. “They should learn clearly about their work, salary, overtime, accommodation and other benefits.”

LIFELINE OF ECONOMY

Migrant workers are considered one of the major lifelines of the country's economy. They are the second biggest contributor to the national GDP after the garment sector. Around nine million Bangladeshis are now working at various sectors across the world. Last year, they sent more than $14 billion in remittance to the country. It was over $13 billion the previous year, according to the BMET.Baira leaders say incidents of cheating have risen in recent years because jobseekers are trying to migrate illegally, as there are fewer jobs through legal channels these days.Due to various irregularities by private recruiting agencies, the Saudi Arabia imposed restrictions on Bangladeshi workers in 2008 and the UAE in 2012. Kuwait has stopped taking Bangladeshi workers since 2006 altogether.These three countries are the biggest job market for Bangladeshis.Before 2008, between 50,000 and 1,00,000 Bangladeshis used to migrate to KSA for work. Over the past few years, it has come down to 5,000 to 7,000 a year. In case of the UAE, about 1.5 lakh Bangladeshis used to go there. It is not more than 10,000 to 12,000 now.The government is also failing to make the most of the Malaysian job offer. The Malaysian government has a demand for about 50,000 Bangladeshi workers per year. But the Bangladesh authorities can secure 4,000 to 5,000 jobs against the demand.In all, about 6 lakh Bangladeshis went abroad for work in 2012, over 4 lakh last year and about 4 lakh so far this year.