Bangladesh: Thousands of Laid Off Workers Overseas to Go Back Home

Bangladesh: Thousands of Laid Off Workers Overseas to Go Back Home

Published June 29th, 2020 - 07:00 GMT











Highlights





The Bangladeshi Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said it was finalizing the reintegration plan.







Bangladesh is bracing itself to receive home hundreds of thousands of migrant workers laid off in their host countries due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, the Bangladeshi minister of foreign affairs, told Arab News on Sunday that the returning workers would be offered training and financial assistance to help them set up their own enterprises.

"We have created a fund of around $85 million to ease the plight of the returnees. They will be provided with soft loans through the expatriates' welfare bank to start small businesses here,“ he said.

Earlier this month, the International Organization for Migration warned that due to the global economic and labor crises created by the COVID-19 outbreak, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers would be expected to return to Bangladesh by the end of the year. According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), more than 700,000 Bangladeshis left the country last year to work abroad.

The Bangladeshi Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said it was finalizing