4 May 2020, NIICE Commentary 4464
Dr. Mohammad Rezaul Karim & Dr. Mohammad Tarikul Islam
Bangladesh is one of the beneficiaries of globalisation and it is also one of the worst hit countries because of the dire COVID-19 outbreak. International travellers who used international flights leaving from China, Italy, Saudi Arabia and UAE are thought to be the primary carriers of the Coronavirus to Bangladesh, and later it spread across the country. International flights have been restricted with the exception of urgent operations. A huge number of overseas Bangladeshis are trapped, affected, and in critical situations. These overseas Bangladeshis comprise of migrant workers working in Middle East, Singapore and Malaysia, immigrants in European Countries and the US, self-financed students in Europe, the US and India, as well as visitors and medical tourists, particularly in India. This equals to approximately 15 million Bangladeshis abroad, which is more than the total population of 159 countries of the world.
Because of COVID-19, Bangladeshi workers working abroad have been rendered jobless, quarantined in shabby living places, mentally disturbed because their family has no money, are fearful of being affected by the virus, and have the fear of being sent back to Bangladesh. These groups resides in densely resident dormitories, which can be the epicentres for the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the government of Singapore has taken effective initiatives, the surrounding environment may work against it. It is evident that the number of COVID-19 positive Bangladeshis in Singapore is higher than/ equal to the total infected people in Bangladesh, which indicates that the total Bangladeshis staying abroad, is a significant number. Similar cases can be found in UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Malaysia where most Bangladeshi workers migrated for employment. The numbers of Corona-infected Bangladeshi populations are more outside the country, than in Bangladesh itself.
Bangladeshi immigrants and temporary residents have great contributions in the national economy of Bangladesh, as they send back remittances to the country. This section is now going through quite a hard time abroad because of the restrictions in their economic activities. A majority of the people in this group are in unstructured and non-mainstreaming jobs, and mostly dependent on the service sectors, such as taxi-drivers, restaurant workers and others, whose jobs are uncertain for an indefinite period of time. Besides, as sub-sections of this overseas group comprises of doctors and nurses, it makes some of them the most vulnerable community around the world at this time.
It is evident that more than 300 overseas Bangladeshis died of COVID-19, among whom were a good number of doctors based in the US, the UK, Italy and Saudi Arabia. Self-financed students are another group who are going through a hard time outside the country because the banking transactions have been restricted. Although the Bangladesh Bank has recently issued an order to allow Banks to send money to the overseas Bangladeshis without the consent of the Central Bank of Bangladesh, it was not possible earlier, putting students studying in the US and Europe in a critical situation. However, the problems still persist as the countries are facing a lockdown since then.
Similarly, Bangladeshi visitors who went abroad for business and medical purposes are stuck there without any cash, or with expired visas. Even the number of financial transactions one can make in foreign countries is limited and foreign credit cards cannot spend beyond USD 500 per year. However, the limits were increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bangladeshi patients overseas, especially in India, may face severe troubles because of the uncertainty about when the lockdown will end. In addition, they will have to face a financial burden. The regular patients (about one million) who usually see Indian doctors are now worried as they are not in the situation to get their follow-up checkups.
The social acceptance of Bangladeshis overseas will fall dramatically, which was not the case earlier. Bangladeshi people have also denied to accept overseas people, especially from Italy, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and have ignored their financial contributions to the national economy. General people are agitated on the establishment of an institutional quarantine at Diyabari, Dhaka for them.
On the other hand, the remittance senders do not want to stay for a fourteen-day-quarantine in the government designated area, and they forced the administration to set them free for self-quarantine at home which, in fact, did not work and was the starting of community transmissions in Bangladesh. It is reportedly said that there were fights that had to be restricted to prevent their entry. Family members were also reportedly meant to not welcome them because of the fear of spreading infection. On the other hand, thousands of Bangladeshi migrants who came home on leave and those who were waiting to fly after securing work visas are not being able to join work abroad as the destination countries have imposed travel bans in face of the Coronavirus outbreak, which, according to the experts, is now threatening to cause a global recession.
Recession may prevent Bangladeshis from working abroad, even if they have secured visas, because of the setbacks being faced by the receiving country. If this happens, Bangladesh may face multiple problems including unemployment, depletion of savings, and a general social crisis. Apart from this, the Bangladeshi economy may drastically shrink because of being most reliant on the remittances from workers abroad, and from the garment-manufacturing income. The increasing record of foreign remittance has already gone down to the lowest in the last 12 months. The GDP growth rate will also be seriously affected. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen meanwhile directed the Bangladesh Ambassadors in 11 countries of the Middle East to expedite diplomatic efforts so that Bangladeshi workers in those countries can get back their jobs once the current situation returns to normal. He also directed the envoys to ensure salaries and allowances if any worker returns to Bangladesh through their diplomatic efforts.
Bangladesh needs to utilise inflow and outflow of the overseas employees. The strong agriculture-based internal markets can be one of the solutions which can produce other backward linkages to agro-based industries, which in turn will help the receding economy. Secondly, the Ministry of Expatriate Workers and Overseas Employment, along with its departments, can identify all legal and illegal migrants and force them to enrol with the government’s IT-based mechanism so that the Bangladesh Government can trace and track them easily to take necessary action whenever required. Because of the rise of a critical crisis due to COVID-19, illegal migrant workers can be taken under supervision and surveillance. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government can come forward with the future course of action for both legal and illegal migrant workers and set out a comprehensive plan for implementation. The status quo policy can be followed until the normalcy of day-to-day activities returns. Only emergency crises related to Bangladeshi workers can be settled in consultation with the host countries. The Government of Bangladesh should focus on the skill-training in nursing, health technology, management, medicine and hospitality, as part of its migration strategy. As the overseas employees of South Asian countries are some of the biggest sufferers, a collective South Asian platform can also be utilised to mitigate the problem.
