Over 10 lakh workers went abroad in current fiscal

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad on Monday said a total of 10.74 lakh migrant workers have left Bangladesh for work in different countries till June of the current fiscal (2022-23), which is 15.59 per cent more compared to the previous year.

The minister said this in reply to a query treasury bench lawmaker Ali Azam of Bhola-2 at the question-answer session at the Jatiya Sangsad here with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.

A total of 10,74,552 employees have already left the country for overseas employment to different countries across the world during the current fiscal year till June 15,” he said, adding, while some 9.07 lakh employees went abroad in the last fiscal till June 15 in 2022.

In the current year, 15.59 per cent more workers have already migrated for overseas employment compared to last year.

In response to a query of AL MP Habibar Rahman from Bogura-5, the minister said to export manpower, the government has a plan to sign agreement with some foreign countries for the purpose of exporting manpower.

These new countries are – Libya, Malta, Albania, Romania and Serbia.

In response to a question of another AL MP Nurannabi Chowdhury from Bhola-4, the minister said since the establishment of Expatriate Welfare Bank till June 13, a total of 114,521 expatriate workers have received Tk 2,081 crore in total as loan for migration purposes.