Dhaka, Bangladesh Global: Citing that Bangladesh is facing a deep and complex crisis in overseas employment due to entrenched broker syndicates, document forgery and systemic failures, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today put emphasis on building a broker and fraudulence free system in sending workers abroad.
“Overseas migration has become dangerously entwined with brokers and fraud. Until we are free from this, there is no reason to believe that meaningful progress has been made,” he said.
Highlighting different initiatives of the government to resolve the deep-rooted migration challenges, the Chief Adviser said, “Despite sincere efforts by the government, the scale of results we should have achieved has not been reached”.
Many initiatives appear impressive on the surface, which are important too, but the government has so far been unable to penetrate the core of the broker-dominated system, he added.
Prof Yunus made the remarks while addressing a function at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium here marking the International Migrants Day and National Expatriates Day-2025. The day is observed on December 18 every year.
Recalling his experience with Grameen Bank, the Chief Adviser said he first came to know about the broker syndicate when requests started to come from rural women seeking loans from the bank to send their children abroad.
“The entire world is broker-controlled. It is nearly impossible to understand who took money from whom and for what reason. The government remains far away from this system,” he said.
In this connection, the chief adviser said that this must be changed at any cost to take the country forward with earning remittances.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Adviser Professor Asif Nazrul spoke at the event as the special guest while Senior Secretary to the ministry Dr Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan delivered the address of welcome.
At the function, a total of 86 Bangladeshi expatriates were honored as CIPs under three categories. Of them, one was honored for direct investment in Bangladesh's industries, 75 for sending the highest amount of remittance through legal channels and 10 for importing Bangladeshi products to different countries across the world.
Among the CIPs, Kallal Ahmed, Md Abdul Karim and Md Mahmudur Rahman Khan received a crest each under the three categories respectively from the Chief Adviser.
Prof Yunus distributed cheques of insurance benefits, medical assistance, financial aid, compensation and scholarships for meritorious children of expatriate workers at the event.
Raju Ahmed, an expatriate in Croatia, and Shahnara Akter Shanu, a returnee expatriate from Saudi Arabia, shared their experiences at the function.
At the outset of the event, a documentary was screened highlighting the role of the expatriate Bangladeshis in the 2024 July Uprising and boosting the country’s economy. It also manifested the government’s efforts to ensure welfare for them.
At the event, Professor Asif Nazrul handed over a Task Force report on reforms and strategic realignment of the ministry to the Chief Adviser.
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