Manpower exporters on Wednesday laid blame on a racket of players in the manpower sector for such exorbitant airfares on Middle-Eastern (ME) routes from Bangladesh.
Before the onslaught of coronavirus, they said, the average airfare on the ME routes, mainly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, was close to Tk 50,000.
But the ticket price for the same route is now a staggering Tk 0.1 million, the exporters cited, seeking stronger policy support from the government.
According to them, migrant workers are suffering immensely due to astronomical airfares amid the active presence of a ring of price manipulators in the sector.
The exporters aired their anguish during the first meeting of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Standing Committee on Manpower and Skills Development in Dhaka city.
FBCCI standing committee chairman Dr Mohammed Faruque said there was a time when the entire process of sending manpower to Malaysia was at the hands of only 10 companies.
At one stage, their confederacy, corruption and irregularities compelled the Malaysian government to stop taking workers from Bangladesh.
"Now, the same clique is manoeuvering to send migrant workers to the (same) country through 25 companies," Mr Faruque mentioned.
On December 19, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed a memorandum of understanding at the ministerial level to start recruitment.
The standard operating procedure will be framed soon.
Other standing committee members also express their concerns about the syndicate in the manpower sector.
Citing the examples of Nepal, India and Pakistan, they say these countries export manpower to Malaysia through more than 1,500 recruiting agents.
Therefore, they say, there is no reason to limit the number of agents in Bangladesh.
The manpower recruiters demanded the inclusion of a nominated member of the FBCCI in the meeting of the Malaysia-Bangladesh Joint Working Committee to disintegrate the syndicate in the sector.
The meeting also discussed amendments to the Prevention and Suppression of
Human Trafficking Act, and a hike in the incentive rate on remittance to 3.0 per cent. The committee has decided to inform the ministries concerned and the Prime Minister's Office of the problems facing the manpower sector.
FBCCI vice-president and director-in-charge of the committee Md Habib Ullah Dawn suggests bringing the manpower sector under the government incentive packages to cope with the Covid-19 epidemic.
The manpower sector is contributing 12 per cent to the country's gross domestic product, he says. Mr Dawn calls upon the government to take steps to officially honour the manpower exporters who contribute to the national economy.
Co-chairman of the committee Reaz-ul-Islam, freedom fighters Mostafa Mahmud and Ghulam Mustafa (Babul), BCCI director Amzad Hussain and secretary Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque were also present at the meeting.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com