In a first, UK hires seasonal farm workers from Bangladesh

Bangladesh for the first time has sent seasonal farm workers to the UK under its Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.

Bangladesh High Commission in London said this in a statement today following a briefing session at the mission's Bangabandhu Lounge yesterday.

A British international recruitment company, Regency Recruitment Ltd, hired these workers for a British farm and arranged their travel to the UK.

The recruitment of the workers was facilitated by Bangladesh High Commission, London and the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh.

"This season, five workers from Bangladesh came here. We can send more Bangladeshis next year," a foreign ministry official said.

They will work for a strawberry farm for six months. They will then have to come back home and then again go to the UK for work, he told The Daily Star.

"The workers only needed experience of working in agriculture sector. They were not required to know good English," the official said.

So far, mostly the Eastern Europeans used to work as seasonal workers in the UK. Now, after the Brexit, it is focusing on the Commonwealth countries. Thus, Bangladesh entered the market, he said.

Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem, while briefing the workers, underlined the importance of following all the rules and regulations of the UK's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme to uphold the image of Bangladesh and facilitate future recruitment of more Bangladeshi workers in the UK's farm sector.

She assured that the Bangladesh High Commission, London will remain available for all-out assistance to the workers during their 6-month contractual stay in the UK, and will continue to work with the British government and private sector to recruit more Bangladeshi workers in the UK's agriculture sector.

Rowsonara Begum, CEO of Regency Recruitment Ltd, said, "Regency Recruitment will continue its efforts to recruit more Bangladeshi workers under the scheme to meet the UK's labour market demand."

The CEO mentioned that Regency Recruitment Ltd is the only authorised agency to recruit farm workers from Bangladesh under the UK's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and called upon all concerned to remain cautious about advertisements, particularly in social media offering such recruitment.

She thanked Bangladesh High Commission, London for extending all necessary support to the recruitment process of the first batch of agricultural workers.

A spokesman from the farm said: "We are a family-run farm which has been operating for over 60 years. We are also happy to see Bangladesh as a source country for the UK's agricultural industry for the first time.

Our belief is that more hard-working Bangladeshi people could find employment through the Seasonal Workers Scheme in the future."

The workers shared their experiences regarding the recruitment process and expressed their commitment to work and follow the rules and regulations.