Another 92 migrant workers leave for South Korea

Some 92 Bangladeshi workers left Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for South Korea yesterday through chartered flights operated by a Korean air company as the government of the East Asian nation resumed receiving foreign workers.

It was the first batch of Bangladeshi expatriate workers, who went to Korea this year, the Korean embassy said in a statement yesterday.

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Forty four of the 92 workers were newly employed while the rest re-entered Korea.

The Korean government suspended accepting foreign workers in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed receiving the expatriates from last month.

After the resumption, so far, a total of 203 Bangladeshi expatriate workers have travelled to Korea. In December, 111 Bangladeshi workers went to Korea.

Korea has been allowing medium and low-skilled foreign workers from 16 countries, including Bangladesh, under the EPS (Employment Permit System) programme. Due to the unprecedented and prolonged coronavirus pandemic, however, the Korean government suspended receiving EPS workers.

Accommodating continuous requests from the sending countries as well as from the employers, the Korean government decided to lift the suspension from November last year on a limited scale.

Bangladeshi EPS workers have played a crucial role in the Korea-Bangladesh relations, contributing not only to the economic development of Bangladesh but also to the supply of labour force to Korea, Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun said on the occasion.