Bangladeshi workers are expected to find jobs in Brunei through official channel in a bid to check existing irregular migration and human trafficking there.
Bangladesh and Brunei will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect on Sunday in Dhaka, official sources said.
Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), which is the only state- owned manpower recruitment agency, will send workers under the deal.
A delegation led by Brunei foreign minister Setia Haji Erywan bin Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Haji Hohd. Yusof met Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad at the Probashi Kallayan Bhaban in the city on Thursday to discuss the issue of signing the MoU.
The deal will be signed by Bangladesh's expatriates' welfare minister and Brunei's home minister on behalf of their countries.
The MoU will be effective for two years, and will be automatically renewed for fresh periods of two years.
Talking to the FE, Imran Ahmad said a MoU will be signed between Bangladesh and Brunei on October 16 on manpower hiring from Bangladesh.
Workers will be recruited by BOESL and licensed recruitment agencies in Brunei, he mentioned.
All workers will be sent through the database of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, he added.
However, migration cost and wages will be fixed by the joint working group after signing the deal.
This arrangement will help ensure low cost migration and stop visa trading in the migration process, said officials close to the Bangladesh High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan.
They said a significant number of workers have been sent by the unethical manpower recruiters though airport contract in the name of labour migration.
Because of such fraudulence practices, workers have suffered a lot being jobless and spending higher migration cost.
Many of them have become victims of human trafficking. Many have returned home empty-handed following such unethical practices.
An official said under the existing process manpower recruiters charge about Tk400,000 each on an average to go to Brunei. But their wages are very poor while many others do not get due jobs. So, they cannot recover the cost within their contract period, and thus they become indebted.
If workers go through proper process, migration cost will be less than Tk100,000, he observed.
If direct air flight from Dhaka to Bandar Seri Begawan is launched, the migration cost will be Tk50,000 to Tk 60,000 each, he added.
However, another MoU on direct air flight will also be signed alongside the recruitment deal.
Brunei will start some new projects that will help create jobs. About 10,000 Bangladeshis are expected to get jobs annually in that country, mission officials said.
Brunei also needs workers for its tourism hub and housing projects.
Migration rights activists opined that all necessary issues including migration cost, wages and working hours should be mentioned in the MoU to protect the interests of workers.
Brunei, a tiny country, is home to 150,000 foreign workers. Most of them have come from Indonesia, whereas the Philippines and Bangladesh are the second-largest countries in terms of supplying workers there.
About 20,000 Bangladeshis are staying in the Southeast Asian nation with jobs, according to Bangladesh high commission.
