Nearly 48% of the Bangladeshi migrant workers, who were forced to return home last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, are now dependent on loans and relatives' support in the absence of any regular source of income, says a Brac survey. Many of them returned due to fear of getting infected, some lost jobs as companies closed operations, some returned permanently, while others returned on leave. Also read: 70pc Bangladeshi returnee migrants struggling to find jobs: IOM Many of them could not get back to their old jobs or migrate again to find a new job because of global lockdown. This has left 98% of such returnees with severe anxiety, depression, and psychological disorders.  Read WB approves $200 million to help Dhaka support urban poor, migrants The other 52% have started small businesses or are working as day labourers to make a living, said the Brac Migration Program survey titled "Searching and Analysing the Socio-economic Status of Returnees." Brac surveyed 417 Bangladeshi returnees across seven divisions from March to April 2021 to explore and analyse their socio-economic and psycho-social situation, one year after their return to Bangladesh amid the pandemic. Also read: MoU signed for helping returnee migrants The majority of the respondents were returnees from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and others returned from Italy, the UK, and Malaysia. Around 19% of the respondents said they had returned to Bangladesh after losing their job, whereas 16% were forced to return, 16% returned due to the fear of Covid-19, 12% returned permanently, 2% returned due to illness, and 35% returned on leave. Some 28% of the respondents claimed to be already in debt. Also read: Over half of returnee migrants in need of financial aid now: Brac Nearly 5 lakh people had to return to Bangladesh from their host countries due to the pandemic which has been raging since the end of 2019, the study says. More than 10 million Bangladeshi expatriates are working across the globe now. The country’s remittance inflow reached $22 billion last year despite the virus outbreak, the highest on record. Read Govt to expats: Don’t come during lockdown, except for emergencies

The government has decided to operate special flights of national flag-carrier Biman to five countries, including four in the Middle East with high concentration of Bangladeshi expat workers from April 17. As disclosed by Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman on Thursday,  these special flights can be availed to fly to three cities in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah), two of the United Arab Emirates (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Oman's Muscat, and Qatar's Doha in the ME, as well as the city-state Singapore. "The passengers who have made reservations for scheduled flights, set to operate after 6am Saturday, are requested to be at the airport with Covid-19 negative certificates six hours before the departure time," she said. Also read: Bangladesh to operate special flights to carry overseas workers The government suspended the operation of all domestic and international passenger flights to restrict the spread of Covid-19 in the country for the duration of the 'all-out lockdown' that came into effect on April 14. However, the special flight services will allow overseas workers currently stuck in Bangladesh for whatever reason to return to their places of work amid the suspension of regular flights. "Special flights will be arranged for the overseas workers who have got stuck in the country following the government's strict lockdown. Bangladeshis who work in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Singapore can leave the country under the special arrangements," Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad told UNB on Wednesday. Also read: CAAB to suspend international flights from Apr 14 "The five countries are still open for Bangladesh as there is no problem in those countries," he said. The minister also said, "The recruiting agencies concerned are responsible for bringing the overseas workers with Covid-19 negative certificates to the airport and they'll have to follow health guidelines as well." Answering a query about how many workers have got stuck, the minister said: "It's difficult to say about the exact number but it might be 25000-30,000 as the recruiting agencies claim." Read Over 200 protest flight cancellation at Dhaka airport

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Golam Sarwar on Thursday said the High Commission is optimistic that "Chakrir Khoj" job portal will complement the initiatives of the Malaysian government for making the ongoing recalibration programme a success. This initiative is to help the recalibration programme declared by the Malaysian government without prejudice to ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh, said the High Commissioner. The job portal was launched by the High Commission only to facilitate the ongoing legalisation process, as they were requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration of Malaysia, during various meetings, to help the Recalibration Programme whatever way possible, Sarwar said in Kuala Lumpur. Read Initiatives taken to help workers get jobs in Malaysia without hassle: Envoy He said the High Commission is optimistic that under the guidance of the Minister for Human Resources of Malaysia and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister of Bangladesh, the ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh will be concluded at the earliest. Bangladesh High Commission launched the job portal as part of its responsibility for the greater welfare of Bangladeshi nationals in Malaysia, said the High Commissioner. Considering the importance of the initiative, he said, the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister attended the virtual launching ceremony as the chief guest while State Minister for Foreign Affairs was the special guest.  Read Comprehensive database for migrant workers launched with IOM support Secretary of Bangladesh Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Deputy Director General of Malaysian Department of Labour were also present in the virtual ceremony as special guests. Bangladesh High Commission has recently launched the online job portal "Chakrir Khoj" targeting "only the illegal Bangladeshi workers" in Malaysia to find suitable employers. Moreover, the High Commission has received requests from several Malaysian employers to help them to find suitable Bangladeshi undocumented workers for employment under the recalibration programme, as the ongoing recalibration programme do not allow any third party vendors to help the employers to search for undocumented foreign workers, said the High Commissioner. Read Biman to run special flights to 5 countries from Apr 17 Malaysia is one of the most popular destinations for Bangladeshi workers. Many enter the country legally and then stay past their visa’s expiration date. Last year, when the world was gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, only 125 Bangladeshis were employed in Malaysia, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). A year before that only 545 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia with jobs. In 2018, the number was 175,927. Read Best Job Searching Websites in Bangladesh In 2019, Bangladeshis expatriates in Malaysia sent back US$1,278.57 million, which was 6.97 percent of the total remittance received that year. Last year, the figure was $1,735.34 million – 7.98 percent of the total inbound remittance, according to BMET. From 1976 to February 2021, officially 1,057,185 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia for work. Read Dhaka seeks KL's support to finalise protocol on manpower recruitment

The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE) on Monday launched a digital platform, Returning Migrants Management of Information Systems (ReMiMIS), to collect, analyze, and store data of returning migrants to Bangladesh.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will soon issue a red notice through Interpol to bring back the human traffickers involved in the killing 26 Bangladeshi migrant workers in Libyan desert town Mezda.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) on Tuesday said it will approve operation of additional flights by Saudi Arabian Airlines so that all Bangladeshi migrant workers can return to their workplaces.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment hosted a high-level international webinar to look at the need to assess and certify the skills of millions of Bangladeshi migrant workers.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday termed the migrant workers “frontline contributors” to the economies and sought a joint strategy for responsibility sharing both at home and host countries. 

OKUP has urged the government to announce a social safety net programme for families of migrant workers and returnees affected by coronavirus outbreak.