A dedicated multipurpose centre close by Dhaka's airport is going to operate its services for migrant workers to alleviate accommodation problem during departure and return.
The 49-seated Bangabandhu Wage Earners Centre (BWEC) has been established on about a 160-katha plot of land at Khilkhet near Hazral Shahjalal International Airport in the capital.
The transit abode will provide lodging for the workers at an affordable cost. Workers can rent seats based on their valid documents. Nine seats will be reserved for women migrants, officials said.
They said many times workers face difficulties in finding an accommodation at a reasonable rate when they need stay in the city to catch up flights on time. They also face same problem when they arrive home.
Sometimes migrant workers fail to start for home from airport directly for a plethora of reasons, like physical unfitness and financial problems.
In this situation, migrant workers will get accommodation facilities and other urgent services at the BWEC. Each migrant can stay two nights in the centre for Tk 200 per night.
A worker can apply for a seat both in person and online with Tk 100 as registration charge. One worker can apply for one seat for staying two nights at a time, according to the officials.
The workers have to carry requisite documents such as passports, air tickets, immigration-clearance certificates, membership certificates etc.
The centre will provide necessary food at reasonable prices, and ensure transport to carry them from airport to the centre.
Workers also will receive primary health services, and if needed, the centre will arrange medical admission. It will provide pre-departure orientation for outbound workers and counseling services to the returnees.
Musharrat Jebin, director (administration and development) of Wage Earners Welfare Board (WEWB), said almost all procedures had been completed, and the centre would go for operation after Ramadan.
"We have tried to cover all emergency supports in the centre so that workers get good services," she says.
And they have also a plan to increase the residential facilities in the near future as it has a necessity for the migrant workers.
According to official count, about 0.6 to 0.7 million Bangladeshis go abroad with jobs annually. Nearly 0.5 million workers returned home during the last two years being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, officials and sector-insiders said.
Remittance from the expatriates is the second-biggest source of Bangladesh's foreign-exchange earning, after readymade garments.
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