The first group of 132 Bangladeshi evacuees from Lebanon, including women and children, arrived in Dhaka on 30 July aboard two commercial airlines. The evacuees left Lebanon three days earlier and proceeded to Damascus, Syria from where they were flown home. They are among the 250 Bangladeshis being repatriated by the government through the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The IOM is currently negotiating with Ettihad Airlines to fly the remaining 148 Bangladeshis from Damascus soon. Bangladesh had earlier sought the help of the IOM in evacuating an estimated 10,179 Bangladeshi migrants from Lebanon, most of them with no valid travel documents.
Malaysia is expected to resume the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers early next month for its construction and palm plantation sectors after an eight-year hiatus. A three-member Malaysian delegation will arrive in Bangladesh on 30 July for a three-day visit for talks with Bangladeshi officials. According to Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan, about 200,000-300,000 Bangladeshi workers would be leaving for Malaysia in phases, starting with around 100,000 this December.
Meanwhile, according to MA Salim, president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), there is no decision yet on how the demand letters for jobs from Malaysian employers would be distributed among the country’s recruitment agencies. Under its new policy, Malaysia would send the demand letters directly to Baira and it is up to the association to devise a mechanism for distributing these to its 700 members. If Baira decides on an equal distribution of the demand letters, there is little room for agents to lobby the employers in Malaysia. Otherwise, manpower experts fear the uneven competition among recruiting agents would likely result in a sharp rise in the service fees that jobseekers would be charged.
Sources: Xinhua, “Bangladesh approaches ILO to bring back Bangladeshis from Lebanon," People's Daily, 19 July 2006; AFP, “BD seeks help for evacuation of nationals," Dawn, 20 July 2006; AFP, “Dhaka seeks help to evacuate Bangladeshis from Lebanon," The Daily Star, 20 July 2006; UNB, “Recruitment of workers for Malaysia next month," New Nation, 21 July 2006; Porimol Palma, “Malaysia to hire workers thru private sector," The Daily Star, 22 July 2006;AFP, “200 Bangladeshis seek evacuation from Lebanon," The Daily Star, 24 July 2006; “250 Bangladeshis couldn’t be evacuated," The Daily Star, 26 July 2006; Porimol Palma, “Uneven competition among agents to up migration costs," The Daily Star, 27 July 2006; UNB, “1st batch of 132 Bangladeshis arrives today," The Daily Star, 28 July 2006; AP, “First batch of Bangladeshi evacuees return home from Lebanon," The Hindu News, 31 July 2006; Reuters, “Bangladeshis return from Lebanon," Dawn, 31 July 2006; Xinhua, “First batch of Bangladeshis return from war-torn Lebanon," People's Daily, 31 July 2006; “Malaysia may take 1 lakh workers by Dec," The Daily Star, 31 July 2006