Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Friday) said her government would take measures to solve the problems are currently facing by the Bangladeshi expatriates in the Maldives.      "I had successful bilateral talks with Maldivian president. The matter of legalising the undocumented Bangladeshi workers came prominently in the dialogue," she said in a reception accorded to her by Bangladeshi expatriates in Maldives.      The Prime Minister said that they would take prompt measures so that the Bangladeshi expatriates can send their hard earned money in Maldivian currency directly without converting into dollars for which they have to face losses.      She directed the authorities concerned including Bangladesh Bank to take measures to solve the crisis, saying, "I think it can be solved easily."      The Prime Minister said that they would consider setting up a government bank branch and money exchange in Maldives.      Addressing virtually the reception from her place of residence, Sheikh Hasina said that her government is going to introduce flights of the national flag carrier Bangladesh Biman alongside the private airline's flights to ease the communication between Bangladesh and Maldives.      Bangladeshi expatriates from different parts of Maldives gathered at Iskandhar School Auditorium, Chaandhanee Magu in Male to attend the reception.      The Prime Minister said Bangladeshi foreign and expatriate welfare ministers have held talks with the Bangladeshi expatriates in Maldives about their problems.      She said her government would take measures accordingly to solve the issues.      The premier reiterated her call go abroad for jobs through legal channel without going to brokers as they do not get the promised jobs and get lower salary.      She said the Bangladesh government has set up digital centre at each of the union as part of the government's move to digitize the country.      "Go abroad after registering your names through the digital centres," she said.      The Prime Minister said no one is required to sell their home or land for going abroad as they can take loan from Probasi Kallayan Bank for this. Source: BSS AH

Expatriates are performing an important role in our economy after beginning of the Corona crisis around the globe. Continuation of remittance flow was strong because of expatriates in the pandemic situation. So these remittance fighters have to pay for corona test at the airport that should not be. Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed has announced that from now on expatriates do not need to pay for corona tests while performing those at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. He said, the ministry will pay 1,600 taka per test on behalf of the expatriates at the RTPCR lab at the airport. The minister was speaking at a view exchange meeting with the expatriates at the Bangladesh embassy in UAE on Saturday. At the program Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi spoke as the special guest. Bangladesh ambassador to the UAE Md Abu Jafar presided over the program. The expatriate welfare minister said, expatriate workers are the remittance fighters of the country. With immense hardship they send money to the country. Their role in the country’s economy is undisputed. The government is proactive for their welfare. As part of that the ministry will pay 1,600 taka per head for performing Covid test for the UAE bound passengers at the airport. AH       

Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed said, one stop service has to be started if necessary for the overseas bound workers to get government services easily. The minister said this at the standing committee meeting of the expatriates welfare and overseas employment ministry at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Monday. He said, we have to work collectively to improve quality of service for the overseas goers and expatriates. After the meeting the minister handed over the copies of publication published by the ministry on the occasion of international migrant day 2020 among the members and chairman of the standing committee. AH

The Saudi Arabian Airlines is going to provide air tickets to 350 passengers today. These tickets will be given to the token holders of serial number 851 to 1200. By this time the airlines has begun to provide tickets to the Bangladeshi expatriates living in Saudi Arabia. In the morning it was seen that several hundred expatriates were waiting to get tickets in front of the airlines office at Karwan Bazar in the capital. The airlines authority is distributing tickets according to the serial number of the tokens. Token holders of serial number 851 to 1200 will get tickets today. On Sunday token holders of serial number 1201 to 1500 will be given tickets. AH   

Health Minister Zahid Maleque urged Bangladeshi expatriates not to return home without any emergency as the coronavirus outbreak has been labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). “It would be good if they (the Bangladeshi expatriates) do not return home now. They have no need to return home without any emergency. If they return home, they must be put in quarantines,” he told a function at the Secretariat in the capital on Thursday. The function was arranged to hand over five thermal scanners, donated by Summit Group, to the government so that passengers could be scanned at ports. About the three patients infected with coronavirus, Maleque said two of them have already attained recovery and they will be released anytime. “All the people, who were put in quarantines, are not sick. After examining health of two persons taken into quarantines, no symptom of coronavirus was found,” he said. Noting that the government is always alert about coronavirus, the health minister said all necessary measures have already been taken to tackle the deadly virus. He said 10 new scanners will be installed at Chattogram and Sylhet airports, Chattogram seaport and Benapole land port. “We had a shortage of scanners at our airports in the past, but now we have enough scanners. We submitted an order letter two months ago for five scanners. And we got the scanners last week. Today, Summit Group gave us five scanners. That’s why we have no shortage of scanners,” he said. Maleque said when a person returns home from abroad, the authorities concerned are tracking him or her and sending the person to quarantine. “Besides, we have been following up with them. If they fall sick, they are being sent to hospitals…but no case of coronavirus infection is identified yet,” he added. Replying to a question, the health minister said 10 doctors and 30 nurses were deployed at airports and “we have already opened four ‘help desks’ there”. “If necessary, we will open more help desks,” he added. Health Secretary Md Asadul Islam, Summit Group Vice-Chairman Md Latif Khan and Summit Group Director Aziza Aziz Khan, among others, were present. Source: BSS AH

Bangladesh Election Commission plans to introduce a voter registration system for Bangladeshis living abroad, said Chief Election Commissioner K.M. Nurul Huda in New Delhi on Thursday. The commission will set up offices in Singapore, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia, UK, US, Italy, Australia and Canada, the hub of the expatriates, as technical and non-technical teams of experts will visit the countries to conduct a feasibility study in this regard, he said. The Chief Election Commissioner said that over 10 million Bangladeshis live in 157 countries and many of these expatriates have failed to enroll in the voter list and don’t have NIDs. The CEC made the statement during a power point presentation at the opening of a two-day international conference on “Making Our Elections Inclusive and Accessible” organized by the Election Commission of India marking National Voters’ Day celebrations. Besides Bangladesh, top election commission officials from Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Kazakstan and Russia are participating in the event. Representatives from several international organizations are also taking part in it. Chief Election Commissioner of India Sunil Arora delivered the keynote address at the opening session. In his first foreign visit after successful holding of Bangladesh’s 11th parliamentary elections on December 30, CEC Huda said the polls have been inclusive with all registered political parties taking part. The elections have been free, fair and peaceful with 25,000 local (from 81 organizations) and 160 international observers freely watching the voting, he added. Huda said the election commission has focused on young voters encouraging their enrollment through SMS, TVC, radio, posters and leaflets. Voters’ awareness programme has also been included in the primary and secondary level curriculum. In his keynote address, Chief Election Commissioner of India stated that free, fair, transparent, credible and ethical elections are critical to the legitimacy of a democratic government. “It is imperative that the voice of all categories of voters is included in democratic representation… Inclusive elections coupled with characteristics such as transparency, accountability and competitiveness add to the strength of democratic polity,” he said. Speaking specifically of the Indian context, he strongly affirmed that ECI is always open to all kinds of feedback in all forms from all stakeholders particularly the political parties who are the most significant stakeholders after the voters. During the one-day conference, there were sessions with heads and senior delegates from EMBs and International Organizations, giving their presentations and sharing of their experiences, best practices and initiatives aimed at electoral engagement, enrolment and active participation aiming towards inclusive and accessible ballot exercise in their respective countries. Source: BSS. AH

Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said, the work to make Bangladeshi expatriates as voters will begin from next April. In this regard at first as a pilot project the expatriates living in Singapore will be made voters. Then the activities to make expatriates in Dubai as voters will be done. He said these to the newsmen at the EC Secretariat at Nirbachan Bhaban at Agargaon in the capital on Thursday. The EC Secretary said, a team will go to Singapore within 5 to 7 days to make the expatriates as voters. Later the activities in Dubai will begin for the expatriates. He said, the fifth upazila council election will begin from first week of March and will be completed by phases. Helal Uddin Ahmed said, the schedule for reserved women seats in the Jatiya Sangsad will be declared in next week. Of the 50 reserved seats, according to the gained seats in the eleventh national parliament election Bangladesh Awami League will get 43 seats, Jatiya Party 4, Oikyafront 1, Independent and other party will get 2 seats. The suspended election of Gaibandha-3 (Sadullapur-Palashbari) constituency will be held on January 27, he added. AH     

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam BSc informed that the government has taken different initiatives to legalize the Bangladeshi workers living in Malaysia. The Malaysian government will give time to legalize workers till September 15 so that they can live Malaysia in a legal way. The minister said these while replying to a star marked question of ruling Awami League MP Md. Shariful Islam Shimul in the parliament on Monday. The Expatriate Welfare Minister said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested the Malaysian government to legalize the illegal workers during her visit to that country in 2014. Following her request the Malaysian government introduced ‘Re-hiring program’ from February 15, 2016. The tenure of that program ended on December 31, 2017. He said, at that time the Malaysian government declared general impunity and also said that no physical punishment will be given to those who are residing illegally in the country. They can return to their countries by giving fines. Letters are being issued repeatedly from high commission of that country so that the workers get legality. The minister also said, for Re-hiring program three vendor companies were assigned for registration and management in Malaysia. All are made vigilant so that anybody won’t take part in re-hiring program through broker, agent or middleman. AH          

Bangalee expatriates living in Europe want opportunities to invest in Bangladesh. They will play role for development of Bangladesh if are provided policy making facilities.  All European Bangladesh Association (AEBA) said this at a press conference at the National Press Club in the capital on Monday.  Speaking at the press conference Secretary General of the organization Kazi Enayet Ullah said that still the environment for investing in Bangladesh is not favorable for the expatriates. So the complexities should be driven away. He placed the demand for forming Expatriate Investment Board in this regard.  Leaders of AEBA claimed that though expatriates are contributing to the development of the country by sending remittance but they have no voting rights. They demanded for providing voting rights through the embassies.  In the program journalist leader Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul said, participation of expatriates is necessary for overall economic development of Bangladesh. There is outstanding contribution of Bangladeshis in economy of different countries of the world. Links should be setup with them in this regard.  He suggested for enlisting expatriates in the voter list and providing national identity cards to them. AH     

Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit has said that expatriate Bangladesh voters will get the opportunity to vote in the next election. He said at a seminar on Expatriates’ Role in National Development at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the capital on Wednesday. The Finance Minister said, there will be opportunity to vote in the next election for expatriate Bangladeshi voters of some countries like Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Economic Relation Division of the Finance Ministry organized the seminar titled ‘Engagement of Non-Resident Bangladeshi in National Development: Strategies, Challenges and Way Forward’. Abul Mal Abdul Muhit said, the government is taking special initiative to provide opportunity for the Bangladeshi expatriates to cast their votes in the next national election. To facilitate voting the government is considering the matter of setting up special centers in the places where the most expatriates are living. Finance Minister said, next budget could be my last budget. In this budget the government is taking initiative to increase the tenure of incentives for one year for making the expatriates eager to invest. He said, we should remember that with the remittances our economy is in good shape. So, we should not call them ‘labor’. The seminar was presided over by Secretary of Economic Relation Division Kazi Shafiqul Azam. Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Dr. Namita Haldar, UNDP Bangladesh Country Director Sudipto Mukharjee, former UN official Dr. AK Abdul Momin and others were present in the program. AH