Some 92 Bangladeshi workers left for South Korea from Dhaka on Wednesday by chartered flights operated by a Korean air company. It was the first batch of Bangladesh expatriate workers going to Korea this year, said a South Korean Embassy press release. The South Korean Government suspended recruitment of foreign workers in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read:North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile into sea It resumed receiving the expatriates from last month. After the resumption, so far, a total of 203 Bangladesh expatriate workers have traveled to Korea. In December, 111 Bangladesh workers were admitted to Korea. Among 92 workers who were admitted this time, 44 workers were newly employed while the rest of them were re-entry workers. Korea has been admitting medium and low-skilled foreign workers from 16 countries including Bangladesh through the EPS (Employment Permit System) program. Due to the unprecedented and prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, however, the Korean government suspended receiving EPS workers. Accommodating continuous requests from the sending countries as well as from the employers, the Korean government decided to lift the suspension from November last year in a limited scope and phased manner with strict COVID-19 protective measures including quarantines. South Korean Ambassador Lee Jang-keun, stressed that Bangladesh EPS workers have played a crucial role in the Korea-Bangladesh relations contributing not only to the economic development of Bangladesh but also to the supply of labor force to Korean industry. Read: Bilateral trade with South Korea to reach a record high this year He welcomed the resumption of receiving Bangladesh workers and hoped that Korea would be able to accommodate more EPS workers from Bangladesh in the coming years. So far, more than 20,000 Bangladesh workers have been dispatched to Korea through the EPS system. According to the Bangladesh Bank, the remittance inflow from the Bangladesh workers in Korea amounted to 209.16 million US dollars in FY 2020/21 which made Korea the thirteenth major source of expatriate workers’ remittance. Korea ranked the 12th in FY 2019/20 with 177.84 million US dollars. The inflow of remittance from Korea has been growing fast in recent years from 80.65 million US dollars in FY 2016/17 to 96.29 million US dollars in FY 2017/18 and 112.51 US dollars in FY 2018/19.

The government of the Republic of Korea has recently decided to resume the entry of Bangladeshi expatriate workers to the country which has been suspended since June last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun informed the decision to Expatriate’s Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed during his meeting with the Minister at his office on Tuesday. Ambassador Lee also requested the Bangladesh Government to take necessary steps to ensure that no COVID-19 positive case is found among the Bangladesh expatriate workers coming to Korea by taking necessary preventive measures before, during and after their travel and their full vaccination. Also read: Bangladesh an attractive investment destination: Korean envoy Minister Imran, expressing deep appreciation to the decision of the Korean Government, assured of full cooperation with the Korean authorities for a smooth and successful resumption of Bangladesh expatriate workers’ entry and re-entry to Korea.

The government is taking an initiative for setting up a support center to provide necessary facilities including temporary accommodation to the expatriate workers, said Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed on Sunday. Besides, a hospital and diagnostic center will be set up at Bhatara in  the capital to provide medical services to the expatriate workers at low cost, he said. Read: Govt urged to utilize Bangladeshi expatriates’ expertise in infrastructure projects The Minister said this at an event of Wage Earners’ Welfare Board at Probashi Kalyan Bhaban. Terming the present government as an expatriate- friendly one, the minister said the government is working for the welfare of expatriate workers. As part of this, yearly allowance Tk 12,000 are being provided to the expatriate workers’ children with disability. Read:Brac, Bangla Trac sign MoU to promote “Ami Probashi” app for aspiring expatriates Director General of Wage Earners Welfare Board Md Hamidur Rahman presided over the meeting while Director General of Manpower, Employment and Training Bureau Md Shahidul Alam NDC, Managing Director of Expatriate Welfare Bank Md Zahidul Haque, Wage Earners Welfare Board Director Shoaib Ahmed Khan were, among others, present.

A total of 14,000 expatriate workers left the country for Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Singapore from April 17 to 21 amid the countrywide lockdown enforced to contain the Covid-19 transmission. Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice-Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said the workers flew for their designations after flight operations for expatriates resumed on April 17. Also read: Biman to run special flights to 5 countries from Apr 17 Besides, transit passengers of other countries also flew along with these 14,000 expatriate workers, he said. Earlier on April 15, the government 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. Also read: Bangladesh to operate special flights to carry overseas workers The 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, said Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman Bangladesh Airline.

Mentioning that there is a diplomatic pressure on Bangladesh for bringing back Bangladeshi expatriate workers from the Middle Eastern countries, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said her government has taken multifaceted diplomatic initiatives to deal with it.