The government is going to set up a shelter home for returnee women migrant workers near the Dhaka airport to provide them with emergency support, officials said.
To this end, the Wage Earners' Welfare Board will rent a house close to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at the beginning of the next year.
The authorities concerned took the decision in the wake of continuous arrival of women workers from Middle East countries, especially from Saudi Arabia.
Various problems such as excessive workload, sexual and physical abuse, denial of wages at their workplaces have forced women workers to come back.
An official at the Welfare Board said the returnees who need immediate shelter and support would be accommodated in the shelter home. They would also receive Tk 5,000 as financial support.
At least 10,000 female workers returned home from the Middle East countries in the last four years because of workplace harassment, according to the BRAC migration programme data.
Last year more than 1,500 domestic helps returned home from Saudi Arabia.
Besides, BRAC has provided services to 850 Saudi-returnee women workers at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport during the January-October period of this year.
Migrant rights activists said the government should establish a one-stop service centre to ensure proper services to the returnees.
Sumaiya Islam, executive director of Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendra (BNSK), said all the returnee women workers need effective reintegration supports to ensure safe migration.
And as a part of the support, the authorities concerned should set up one-stop service centre where they will get assistance, she observed.
Ms Islam said women workers sometimes face psycho-social problems and legal complications. So, the centres would have to be well equipped.
For economic reintegration, women workers should be provided with necessary skills training and funding, she added.
Every year an average 100,000 women get overseas employment.
Since 1991, over 0.87 million Bangladeshi women went abroad for jobs, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training data.
