Migrant workers, who came home on vacation from Malaysia early last year and have been stranded for about one and a half years now due to the coronavirus pandemic, are frustrated over their going back to workplaces.
The validity of visas and Iqamas (work permits) of the workers expired one year ago - so, they are worried about their jobs.
According to sector insiders, about 30,000 workers came home from the Southeast Asian country to enjoy leave shortly before the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
Majority of them had visas with validity up to 90 days. But they could not go back following air flight suspension between the two countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The stranded workers are now facing a financial crisis. Many of them are empty-handed as they spent all the money to maintain families in the last one year, said a good number of workers while talking to the FE correspondent.
On the other hand, they borrowed funds to meet migration costs. Now money lenders repeatedly are putting pressure on them to pay back their loans, they said.
Take the case of Jashore's Rabiul Islam, who came to Bangladesh on a vacation for 60 days in February 2020.
He has been stuck home since then. As he has no earning source at home, he has been bearing all expenses by selling a piece of ancestral land.
Rabiul, who used to work at a plantation company in Malaysia for four years, said, "I have no idea how I will live my life once all the money is spent."
Rabiul said he even tried to manage a temporary job to earn a living here in Bangladesh, but failed.
This was simply unbearable that cannot be expressed in words, said a frustrated Rabiul.
The Malaysian returnee said he was waiting for the Bangladesh government's move to help them go back to Malaysia.
Md Farid Ali, another stranded worker, said the money lender was forcing him to repay loans that he took to meet migration costs earlier.
He borrowed Tk 300,000 as his migration cost was Tk 400,000.
Farid worked in Malaysia for two and a half years at a plantation farm, named 'FGV Plantation (Malaysia) SDN. BHD'.
His flight was scheduled for March 24, 2020, but he failed to return to Malaysia because of travel restrictions induced by the coronavirus pandemic.
The validity of his passport also expired in the meantime. So, he renewed the passport with the hope that Malaysia would start to receive workers again.
Farid said like him, at least five other stranded returnees at his village in Jashore had been waiting to go back to Malaysia for jobs.
The remittance warrior is seeking the government assistance so that they can return to their workplaces in Malaysia.
Jasiya Khatoon, director of the WARBE Development Foundation, underscored the need for a diplomatic initiative to help the workers join their workplaces.
The stranded workers are now mentally distressed, said the migrant rights activist, adding that the workers even did not have the necessary information whether they would be able to go back to their destination country.
Many of them are going through an economic crisis, she said.
The government should provide funds to the helpless workers, she added.
A recent BRAC study showed about 47.23 per cent of the returnee migrants don't have any income source; as a result, they have to manage their daily lives depending on family earnings, loans, and support of relatives.
The BRAC Migration Programme released the study on April 30 last. It interviewed migrant returnees to understand how Covid-19 had impacted their socio-economic condition.
Officials at the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said it was true that migrant returnees from Malaysia were facing uncertainty over their jobs.
The ministry has kept the communication open with its counterpart in Malaysia to resolve the crisis, they said.
More than 1.0 million Bangladeshis have gone to Malaysia with jobs since 1976, shows the data of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.
However, Malaysia stopped recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in 2018 following an allegation of syndication in the migration process.
Because of the pandemic, the labour-receiving country in June 2020 announced that it would not hire foreign workers until December that year.
But the situation remains the same till now.
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