Better skills and protection mechanisms are key
It is concerning that the migration of women workers abroad has been gradually declining over the last four years. What is truly worrying is the reason behind it: unsafe working conditions and abuse in destination countries. Despite countless media reports and studies by organisations working with migrant workers, many of these women continue to endure physical abuse and have nowhere to turn for help. Some are trafficked and forced into prostitution, and many return to their homeland in body bags, with the causes of their deaths not properly investigated. Most of them go to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan, and Lebanon.
It is little wonder that the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) has found a significant decline in the number of women going abroad for work. A recent study by the Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme found that 94 percent of returning women experienced regular physical and mental abuse, 47 percent reported sexual harassment, while 97 percent were denied medical care. Meanwhile, 80 percent were not given adequate food, and 82 percent had to work from early morning until midnight. According to the Wage Earners' Welfare Board, the bodies of 412 female migrant workers were returned since 2021, with 84 of them having died by suicide.
There are cases in which women have been thrown from rooftops after enduring prolonged torture and given no medical treatment. Death certificates, however, rarely reflect the abuse and mental trauma that may have led to these deaths. This horrifying reality has been widely publicised for many years, yet the previous government did little to ensure the safety of migrant workers or to investigate the deaths of so many women. Women are often offered only low-paying jobs, such as domestic work, because they lack skills, including language skills. As housemaids, they are at the mercy of their employers and often confined to the house 24 hours a day, which increases the risk of abuse.
We, therefore, urge the authorities to immediately ensure that women workers do not go abroad without the necessary safeguards. Like Indonesia and other countries, providing them with skills training for caregiving and nursing will allow them to access jobs that are safer, more dignified, and better paid. Better residential training, including orientation sessions on workers' rights and the culture of the destination country, should be offered. Bangladesh's high commissions in these countries must be more proactive in protecting women migrant workers who find themselves in danger, and helplines should be made available to all workers and their families. Bangladeshis involved in forcing women migrant workers into sex work must also be brought to book.
Equally importantly, there must be diplomatic dialogue with host countries to ensure that allegations of abuse by their own citizens are taken seriously and that necessary action is taken. We must stop treating our citizens as cheap labour to be exported, disregarding the inhuman conditions under which many end up working.
