Bangladeshi migrants are sending Billions in remittance back home. Everywhere in the world, we are “foreigners” who service for the adopted country and also home country. But back in Bangladesh, are “foreigners” welcome?
1. Mostafa Minhaz of Malibag Chowdhuripara, a PhD research fellow by profession, filed a writ petition (represented by Adv Ruhul Amin) challenging the ambassadorial appointment of Debapriya Bhattacharhya. In the petition, he claims as per Public Service regulation 3, subsection 1 and 4, no person married to a foreign national, or engaged to a foreign national, can work in the diplomatic corp. Debapriya’s wife Irina Bhattacharya is a Russian national. The court has given gov’t 8 weeks to show why appointment is not illegal. [Aamokal, 14/12/07]
2. The Board of Investment (BoI) has decided not to allow any foreign national to work in Bangladesh for over five years in order to encourage transferring technical know-how to local people.
Foreign nationals won’t be allowed to work for over 5 yrs
Jasim Uddin Khan
http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=8220
…The BoI will also not allow any ordinary workforce from abroad to ensure more jobs to the locals in industries fully owned by foreign nationals or joint venture companies.
“If any industry desires to transfer technical know-how to the local people, five years is enough for the task,” a BoI director told The Daily Star on Thursday. As a least developed and over populated country, Bangladesh is not able to accommodate unskilled work forces in different industries, he added. The decisions were taken after a taskforce recently identified that a few foreign nationals working here hid their actual income to evade government revenue. Following the revelation, the BoI cancelled around 25 work permits. The board is also working on other complaints regarding tax evasion by foreign nationals. As part of the tightened policy, the BoI is not allowing foreign nationals whose income is shown below $500 a month. Meanwhile, many owners of shrimp hatchery plants blamed that the home ministry is objecting to a majority of their work permits without any valid ground. They said the industry is heavily dependant on Thai experts, but the home ministry has rejected a good number of work permit applications from Thai nationals on grounds that locals are able to do the same task. At an inter-ministerial meeting the BoI decided to hold two meetings a month instead of one to speed up the process of approving work permits. The board has so far approved 1,140 new work permits and renewed about 1,460 permits on a two-year term basis in the last nine months. Foreign nationals are working in Bangladesh in mainly textile and telecom sectors, buying houses, hatchery plants, aviation, cement, glass, software and re-rolling industries. Pakistani and Indian workers dominate the work market here, especially in the textile sector.
October 21st, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Huh? The H1B visa in the US, for example, only lasts for six years, after which the worker needs to leave the country for a year. He or she is welcome to apply for a new visa after the cooling off period… I see nothing in the article preventing foreigners from doing this.
So… all in all, the new policy brings Bangladesh in line with other countries’ policies. If this doesn’t gel with whatever idealized utopia the OP wishes (s)he lived in, well, that’s not the BoI’s fault.
October 21st, 2007 at 8:55 pm
I’m for this move by the BoI. It might come across as xenophobic and parochial, but truth is without such a law in place, FDI will not have any positive effect in the long run.
October 21st, 2007 at 10:42 pm
i’m with this policy too. though i think the rationale given by the govt could’ve been more concrete. who knows may be they are being prevented from giving out too much information. i’m just a little concerned about the abuse of this policy. i hope it doesn’t breed fear among the expats and investors.
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:07 am
I don’t think It is a right policy. We need foreign expertise. About My personal experience what the things I have achieved today, there were lots of contribution of My foreign Bosses. I learn lots of things from them.
Basically This is just an emotional step. First of all we need a big reform in our corporate structure. Then we can go for such
moves. Basically some funny stuffs have been implemented in Telecom licenses as well.
Asif Y , Long run effect will be possible that time while our regulatory bodies will be
more professional. I personally find there is a big time lack of professionalism in the regulatory body.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
This is undoubtedly a wrong decision. But I’m sure, it will never be implemented. If such system is there it will get the expats to be corrupted. They will learn the crooked way how to approach our officials to evade deportation. This is an anti-international fraternity and friendship step and of course, this kind of law diminishes humanity and human rights across the world.
Thanks.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I am very excited on hearing this news. I have commented in one of the blogs in Dristipat about resource management and job creation in Bangladesh. Part of which, I would like to incorporate with this one.
“IMF or World Bank prescription of free market economy may not be suitable for Bangladesh since our industrial infrastructure might not survive the competition. Bangladesh should have program to ease competition for local industries.
In future, Bangladesh will get more and more foreign investments. Government should help local investors to setup joint venture with foreign investors and give incentives for it. This way Bangladesh may develop necessary manpower for its industrialization.
Lots of idle money is sitting in banks in Bangladesh. Obviously, it proves that investors and entrepreneurs don’t have opportunities or expertise to setup new businesses. Government can work as a catalyst to bring investors with entrepreneurs together, work as a guarantor and make sure easier and faster bureaucratic and infrastructure setup process. Government could setup ‘Idea Bank’ for investors. Incase foreign investors are not willing for joint venture, they must have local employees at all decision making positions with in a short time.
Industrialization is the only solution for highly populated countries like Bangladesh. Skilled manpower can make it happened. Once skilled manpower is available, investment will pour in for cheap labors.”
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 pm
#4
refer to #1
may be the foreigners can reapply for renewal? because having an indefinite open house may be tantamount to inviting trouble? (i’m just speculating…)
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:39 pm
There should be a policy of foreign experts/workers. If they can help our industry why not? Get income tax from them. limit their stay here. For their permission get a fee from them so locals can be developed. Yes, I like the H1 system in USA. Just copy that. This will be a win win game.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:29 am
In my opinion, it can only hurt our economy in the long run. To be competitive in the modern world, we need not only bodies but people with expertise and appropriate work ethics. Many of our graduates lack necessary communication skills. Many are not exposed to practical issues, they need some time to catch up and why not learn from people with experience. Foreign specialists can help us acquire those qualities.
In this age when all advanced Western and even some East European countries are clamoring to get foreign graduates, why must we do exactly the opposite.
Maybe we can limit their stay to 5-6 years but a blanket ban would definitely hurt us.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 am
This measure will increase CORRUPTION and will decrease skills interchange and DEVELOPMENT!
I am Portuguese, I was in Bangladesh for 6 months to do volunteering work. I worked, before going there, in a Management Position and my willing to go to Bangladesh had to be bigger to be able to go.
I wanted to help the country and I spent several days trying to get a visa to get in and several weeks trying to extend my visa.
I believe Bangladesh cant close it self from the world. And this is a measure that will only contribute to the exclusion of Bangladesh in an economical, technological and development perspective
Terrorism, poverty levels and other indicators make the world think Bangladesh doesn’t exist!
The world is changing fast, Bangladesh needs to open to changes. Maybe there are measures that are needed to retain skills in the country but they have to come in form of Partnerships of university student interchange in South Asia and maybe in the world, Bangladesh technical professionals to be sent to thailand (as refered) or others!
PLEASE DONT CLOSE BANGLADESH, no country has developed it self like that. Measures need to be taken but not those.
More than all, this measure will only increase the price of bribery and corruption.
I was there and I saw it! All those papers, nobody will ever look at them again! So they say it is impossible and the price is simply higher.
Bangladesh looses flexibility, openness and “some people” win money!
Cheers and love for all my Bangladeshi friends! Love your People! Bangladesh Josh!
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:06 am
i hope theres parallel initiative to up the skills amongst the people.
tbh, we do get 3rd rate expats who wouldnt make it anywhere else.
but then when it comes to matters of expertise (not corporate rubbish or developmentalism) i hope they make considered exceptions. People like hugh brammer and their expertise have benefited people in desh.
5 years is also longer than most sane expats would want to stay in bangladesh.
oo and a rule preventing indigenously specialised and trained people from jumping ship immediatly after they make the canadian high skills qualification.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Ummm… any particular reason for mentioning the “canadian high skills qualification”? Don’t other countries have high skills qualifications we well? Genuine question, not rhetorical.
The problem of expertise: the flip side of the argument - one that I was basing my first comment on - was that this law works as an incentive to TRAIN Bangladeshi workers instead of getting highly skilled foreigners to do the job. That is how skills and technology are transferred IMHO.
But I agree with certain commenters on one thing: 5 years is a bit too long. If they cut down on that, I’d be more in support.
October 24th, 2007 at 2:57 am
Every atto[1/1000000000000000000]second every stuff, physical or abstract, whatever is its dimension changes. Concept of “Fundamental Human Rights” should have changed so much in this super-technologial era.
How I see it is ” FREEDOM OF TRAVEL, FREEDOM OF WORK AND FREEDOM OF SETTLMENT ANYWHERE ON THE EARTH IS THE FIRST AND FOREMOST FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS.”
Only the crooked criminals can be stripped off this right temporarily until they are corrected and all the rest wherever born, whatever the ethninicity, religion or skin-colored matters not, should not be denied this fundamental right by any so called sovereign anti-human governments.
Thanks.
October 24th, 2007 at 5:38 am
Lazarus, you brought up US H1b visa, but forgot to mention that
1.During the 6 year period of the H1 visa, you can actually apply to get a green card/permanent resident card. 5 years after that, you can apply for US citizenship.
2. Prior to H1 is also a Practical Training period of 1 year. And if you are processing Green Card and your H1 6 years run out, if the paperwork is done right, you are on “parole” giving you additional time to stay and work.
3. Once you get the green card, you never need to get a work permit again.
4. In addition, USA provides numerous other ways to get direct immigration including DV lottery (from which Bangladesh was biggest beneficiary for last decade), family reunification, etc.
So comparison to the 6 year H1b visa in US with Bangladesh does not apply, because we do not provide foreigners with opportunity 1-4. In fact the process for foreigners to become Bangladeshi citizens, even if married to a Bangladeshi, is a bureaucratic nightmare.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:50 am
This law will help Bangladesh in long run. Money is being out of the country for long time by these foreigners especially $2 Billion per year by the foreign workers/buyers in the Garments industries.
This is too much for a developing country like Bangladesh.
–M. M. Chowdhury (Mithu)
October 24th, 2007 at 8:05 am
my scope of observation is at the highish tech end, where the goal is national scientific goods to solve national technoscience issues (not consumerist tittle tattle)
staff retention is an issue. its not personal, i love them all, im just sad to see them go and the institutional efforts are rubbisher without them.
My specific knowledge on the visa sciences is very low, but the canadian ability to skim off from the top is really quite funny.
At the end of the day the policy is useless unless strong training and learning occurs, and providing the scope for learning involves making specific mistakes.
All i think is that i hope advisor cs karim is having as much input as the other people, he knows the issues.
October 24th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Bitterboy
‘FREEDOM OF TRAVEL, FREEDOM OF WORK AND FREEDOM OF SETTLMENT ANYWHERE ON THE EARTH IS THE FIRST AND FOREMOST FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS’… is it similar to the dream of the Alexander the great?
October 24th, 2007 at 11:36 am
MRA,
That kind of right is very rational and natural.
We know amongst 18,000 makhlukats[creations] on the earth except the best one, humans have that rights in full. A poisonous snake, a ferocious lion, a man-eater piranha or a falcon doesn’t need visa/passport and they are free for choosing their own habitat wherever they want.
Why the humans are shackled in the name of sham independence or sovereingn inedependent states! There should be only one state ie, ‘Human Nation State’.
Even President Bush doesn’t enjoy the uninversal genuine right I’m talking about.
For example He [Mr. Bush] dreamed one of the Nura Pagla’s Nati [grandson] at Lakkhipur or Rampura and wish to visit him, he must try to obtain visa permit from Moin, Moinul, Matin or Fakruddin. If they don’t like Bush, he may be denied his entry in Bangladesh and he will have to fight to fullfil his dream and desire. So he is not free to the extent he should be.
We everyone as human strive to establish and achieve that right and I, believe, it is achievable given we are for it. President Muamar Al-Gaddafi says,” Al-Harriya Fee Al-Haja: In need freedom is latent.”
So as human if we believe and feel that this kind of freedom is our fundamental right and we need it badly, we or our future generation can achieve it.
Thanks.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
MM Chowdhury, can you give a citation for this data: “being out of the country for long time by these foreigners especially $2 Billion per year by the foreign workers/buyers in the Garments industries.”
GOB reported:
“In the FY 06, country’s total export was 10.5 billion US$”
(http://www.bbs.gov.bd/dataindex/stat_bangladesh.pdf)
And foreigners working in BD earned an amount equal to 1/5th total export revenue in salary, inside BD?
Excuse my disbelief.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
This law taps into the same xenophobic streak that made a hero of the writer of that incendiary Daily Star op-ed “Invasion Of The Indian Middle Managers”
To which one employer wrote back, “Uhh the reason we hire Indians is there isn’t any Bangladeshi qualified for this job. Sorry it may hurt your pride, but it’s the truth.”
Did you know that vmware solution is now being adopted by many small startups yet in BD there isn’t a SINGLE VMWare certified tech. When we wanted to hire an Indian, we were told it would take 6 mos-1 yr to process paperwork (esp. now) and so we gave up. No Vmware for BD!
How did we get garments. Koreans set up factories here to bypass “made in korea” label quotas in US. Eventually we sucked all that knowledge out, and every employee of that first korean factory started their own garments co.
Technology & Knowledge transfer is the name of the game. Globalization– embrace it, or be left behind, like frogs in a well.
October 25th, 2007 at 1:45 am
My data came from internal Bangladesh Govt. In this data, Bangladesh exports garments of $9 Billion per year, out of $9 Billion $5 Billion goes to China and India for raw materials, $2 Billion for foreign workers/buyers living in Bangladesh, $2 Billion goes to 19 Lac gaments workers plus owner profit and operating cost.
Now some one believes this data or not, its personal choice, But I have given this data from Bangladesh Govt 4 months ago.
Thanks,
M. M. Chowdhury (Mithu)
October 25th, 2007 at 6:07 am
Thanks MM for the GOB stats. Could you provide a URL where we can look up the data. I would like to read the footnotes and understand data further.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Although B’deshis get a 6yr H-1B visa, they don’t get a H1B visa stamp for more than 12 months for no other reason but reciprocity! US nationals get a B’deshi Work Visa for at most 1 year at a time, hence, unlike Indians who get a H1B Visa Stamp for 3 year period, all H1B visas on Bangladeshi passports have to renewed every year if they travel back frequently. Not to mention the background checks that many have to go through which wastes approx. another 3 weeks in the processing time. Someone at BOI should take a hard look at it to address the inconvenience caused to US and B’deshi nationals, of which more than 90% ought to be Bangladeshi nationals (H1b holders) who suffer the most.