Labour Migration and Remittances

Arif Ahmed
Deputy Secretary
Presented by: Ministry of Expatriates Welfare &
Overseas Employment
Bangladesh
The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian
Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent.
ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their
use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.
Outline

Migration : at a glance
Migration Scenario of Bangladesh
Migration & Skill
Returnee Migrants
SDG 2030 & 7 five year plan of Bangladesh
Remittance & its Significance
Migration Governance
Migration Governance Index
Key Challenges
 Global remittance was US$ 601 b in 2015
Developing countries received USD 431.6 b
(0.4% over USD 430 b in 2014).
Remittance source countries in 2014:
- USA is the largest: USD 56 b
- KSA: USD 37 b and
- Russia: USD 33 b.
Remittance receiving countries in 2015:
- India (top): USD 69 b
- China: USD 64 b
- Philippines: USD 28 b
- Mexico: USD 25 b and
- Nigeria: USD 21 b.
Around 10 million Yearly migration
Bangladeshi migrants from Bangladesh
are working in 161 is around 0.6-0.8
countries m.

Remittance in 2016
:US$13.6 b
Migration in 2016: - 09 % of GDP,
- 7 times of ODA
0.757 million. - 8.5 times of FDI
F or. Currency Reserve: US$
31.90 b

Source: Bangladesh Bank

200,000 186,737

180,000

160,000
145,328
140,000
119,712
120,000

100,000

80,000
71,855
54,340
60,000

40,000

20,000

Oman Saudi Arabia Qatar Bahrain Singapore

Source: BMET
800000 757,731

700000
607798
600000 555,881

500000 425684
409253
400000

300000

200000

100000

0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Source: BMET
 Migration & Skill
Male
1000000

500000 Name 2015 2016

Male
0
2015 2016
Male 4,52,163 6,39,643

Female Female 1,03,718 1,18,088

150000 (18.7%) ( 15%)
100000
50000 Female Total 5,55,881 7,57,731
2015 2016
Skilled 2,14,328 3,18,851
400000 (38.565) (42.8%)
Skilled Semi- 91,099 1,19,946
200000 Skilled (16039%) (16.1%)
Semi
0
Skilled
2015 2016

Source: BMET
350000 Professional
318851
Skill 314296

293662
300000 Semi-Skill
Less-Skill
243930
250000

212282 214,328
205093

200000
173331

148766
150000 133754
119946
104721

100000 91,099

70095
62528

50000 36084

689 1730 1,274 4638

0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Source: BMET
Source: BMET
 56,674
60000
47261
50000 41,626
37480

40000

30000 18389

20000

10000

0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Source: BMET
 Target 8.8 protect labour rights and promote safe
and secure working environments of all workers,
including migrant workers, particularly women
migrants, and those in precarious employment ;
Targets 10.7 facilitate orderly, safe, regular and
responsible migration and mobility of people,
including through implementation of planned and
well-managed migration policies;
Target 10c by 2030, reduce to less than 3% the
transaction costs of migrant remittances and
eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher
than 5%
The Seventh FYP focused on:
Promoting labour migration, including from lagging
districts;
Improving the skills base for the development of new
overseas labour market opportunities for Bangladeshi
nationals;
Ensuring the protection of migrant workers human
and labour rights.
 Wage Earners Remittance inflow in 2016

milllion US$
3000

2500

milllion US$
2000

Total
1500
Remittance
: US$
1000
13609
million
500

Source: BMET
Source: Bangladesh Bank
At destination:
Fulfill the gap of labour shortages
Contribute in the economic activates
Skill and Knowledge demand increases
Aggregate demand increases

At individual level:
Remittances smooth consumption
Improve living standard
Alleviate poverty at household levels

At Origin
Reduce unemployment & Poverty alleviation
Gather skill and knowledge
Earn international remittances
Improve foreign exchange reserves & Balance of Payment
 48% remittance receiving households are female;
Literacy level, land ownership, access of safe drinking
water of RRHs are better than general households;
[1.68% RRHs are landless compared to 9.58% for all households]

Land purchase is the main expenditure for RRHs;

RRHs heads are mostly illiterate, below grade X;
Bank is the biggest custodian of savings made out of
remittance;
Expenditure-house construction, flat purchase.
Improvement in Health & Education

(Source: BBS, 2013)

 Sending media of Remittance %

Banks 50.72
Money Transfer houses 12.66

Cell phone Operators 14.31

Post Office 0.21
Friends and Relatives 5.45
Hundi 12.31
Known persons 3.85
Others 0.48
Total 100
Source: Bangladesh Bank
In US $ billion

(Source: World Bank)

 Prevent any mal practices and unpleasant situations. Enactment
different laws and regulations ;
Incorporate online registration system & Decentralization;
Promote overseas employment to genuine and committed workers
3-tier procedure to check the antecedents;
Formation of a Bank for Expatriate Workers;
pre-departure orientation session
Formation of a Vigilance Task Force to combat illegal and irregular
migration
Ensure safety and security through:
Online registration
Collection of finger prints with photo of the migrants workers
Collection of income tax and welfare fee
Online visa checking
Online complaining system
Establish National Level Database of potential migrants workers.
 Local Elected Public
During Representatives No
Registration Objection/
Character
Certificate.

Before Issuing the Police Verification

Passport Report

Before Leaving for Smart Card with

the Destination Biometric
Country Impression
 High Quality
Preprint

Secure 32K
Microprocessor
card with
encryption

Employee
Information

Photo

Barcode
 Before issuing a Smart Card for
Every Outbound migrant worker
the following documents needed
to be submitted:

Valid Visa
Attestation of all necessary documents / verification by
Bangladesh Embassy
Employment Contract
Machine Readable Passport
Finger Print Enrollment
Confirmation of the contribution to Wage Earners Welfare Fund
Certificate of Medical Fitness
Certification of Pre-departure briefing
Migration Governance Index
 Transform migration into development

Engaging Diaspora in investment

Skill Enhancement & Training

Resource Allocation

Economic and Social Integration of Returnees

Modernizing Migration Governance System

Remittance inflow in proper channel

Protection of migrant workers and their families