About one-third of outbound workers were cheated by middlemen with false promise and visas, according to a new report.
The report has found that some 60 workers (male and female) out of 183 workers surveyed were cheated by dalal (middlemen). The workers returned from 14 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Malaysia.
The WARBE Development Foundation has recently released the 'Bangladesh Annual Migration Report 2018,' which also found the maximum number of the victims were from Malaysia.
Apart from male, female workers faced false promises by the middlemen, shattering their dreams, said Jasiya Khatoon, director of Foundation.
They found that a good number of women could not go abroad even after giving money to the intermediaries.
Besides, many of them were promised high salary and lucrative jobs.
But ultimately, they ended up in low-paying jobs, she added.
Although the government has fixed the maximum limit of migration cost, a section of manpower recruiters are violating it.
Recruiters are charging from women workers too, though the government has announced zero migration cost for female overseas job-seekers, she added.
Ms Khatun said a female pays Tk 70,000 to Tk 80,000 and a male gives Tk 600,000 to Tk 800,000 to go abroad with job. This practice has been continuing for many years.
Shraboni Gain, a school teacher from Barishal went to Saudi Arabia in June 2018.
The middleman promised her a house tutor's job with handsome salary.
But after reaching Saudi Arabia, she came to know that she was sent to the country as a domestic help.
As she refused to perform this work, the employer tortured her and did not let her communicate with the family members.
Somehow, she managed to communicate with the local police, but they sent her to another house in Riyadh with the help of a local middleman.
After hearing the miseries, her husband contacted the middleman and managed to bring her back.
The report said some 35 workers faced physical violence while 17 fell sick in destination countries, but they did not get any treatment.
Some 12 were abused mentally, six faced wages related issue and four were not provided work permit.
Foundation chairman Syed Saiful Haque urged the government to bring the middlemen under a legal framework to ensure safe and orderly migration.
He said since it is not "feasible" to eliminate middlemen at this moment, the government may consider bringing them under the legal structure.
Workers should not give money to recruiting agents before getting a valid job document, he added.
More than 12 million Bangladeshis went to different countries with jobs between 1976 to until April 2019, according to government statistics.
