'Ensure security for women migrant workers'

They said dissemination of relevant information is needed so that the women migrants could learn about different cultures and working environments before going abroad.

The discussion on 'Safe Migration for the Women Workers' was organised by Bangladeshi Obhibasi Mahila Sramik Association (BOMSA) in collaboration with Action Aid Bangladesh at the National Press Club in the city.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The speakers said if the women workers could develop a minimum level of personality, the incident of abuse will diminish considerably.

They also urged the government to change its policy to develop this potential sector.

Prof Tasneem Siddique of Dhaka University said equal policy is not followed in the case of male and female migrant workers in the country.

She said without providing security, the government rather stopped the migration of women workers under the age of 35.

Secretary General of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Ali Haider Chowdhury said it costs only Tk 10 to 15 thousand for the women to go abroad as migrant workers.

But there are middlemen and few unscrupulous recruiting agencies who took even Tk 50 thousand from them without ensuring any security.

The speakers stressed the need for coordination among the government, non-government and recruiting to ensure safe movement of women migrants.

They also called for fixation of minimum wages for the unskilled and semi- skilled women workers, and making the contract paper understandable to them.

Afia Akhtar and Helena, who worked in Kuwait and Malaysia for several years, shared their experiences and talked about the problems they faced in those countries.

TIM Zahid Hossain of Action Aid Bangladesh, Sumaiya Islam and Sheikh Romana of BOMSA, Farhana Malaya Chowdhury of the International Organisation for Migration, and Shamsun Nahar Aziz of the Planning Commission attended the discussion.