Malaysian High Commissioner in Dhaka Abdul Malek Bin Abdul Aziz called on the Bangladeshi government to establish a training institute for overseas-bound workers. This would allow Bangladesh to export more skilled and trained workers to the international labor market and raise its earnings from remittances, Aziz added. The envoy also commented that Dhaka has yet to act on Malaysia's recommendation for a capacity-building program for Bangladeshi migrant workers. He made these statements at a seminar on "Economic Growth and Business Transformation in South East Asia-Bangladesh's Potential to Match" held in Dhaka on 3 September.
Members of the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (Atab) told a conference in Dhaka on 1 September that the flight shortage being experienced especially by low-income overseas-bound workers, has become more acute over the last six months as the country's labor export almost doubled during that period. The flight crisis is forcing about 1,000 outbound migrant workers to postpone their travel arrangements daily. According to Atab Biman Bangladesh, the country's national carrier has to lease at least two large big aircrafts within the next 15 days so as not to jeopardize the labor export industry. Atab said Biman used to transport 30 percent of migrant workers bound for the Middle East but this figure has since gone down to 10 percent.
Members of the Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) rescued two young women from traffickers intending to take them to India. Rabeya Khatun, 27, and Sabina Khatun, 25, were rescued at the border village of Goalpara in Kalaroa upazila on 2 September. They were allegedly promised high-paying jobs abroad by the traffickers who managed to elude arrest.
Sources: "Flight crisis forces 1000 outbound workers to postpone trips everyday," The Daily Star, 3 September 2007; "Two women rescued from traffickers," The Daily Star, 3 September 2007; "Skills key to more overseas jobs for Bangladeshis," The Daily Star, 4 September 2007