Only 53% Bangladeshi workers in Maldives receive promised wage: Study

Only 53 percent of the Bangladeshi migrant workers in Maldives receive promised wage and their average monthly income is Tk 35,147.

The information was revealed in a new study by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU).

The average monthly income of a documented Bangladeshi worker in Maldives is Tk 37,066 and an undocumented one is Tk 25,650, the study says.

Thirty-three percent of the Bangladeshis there are employed in hotels and resorts, 25 percent in construction, seven percent as day-labourers, two percent each as domestic workers and in fisheries sector, while the rest of the31 percent work in various other sectors, the study added.

The findings of the study "Migration Dynamics of Bangladesh and the Maldives Corridor" were revealed today during an event in Dhaka.

The study, commissioned by The Asia Foundation, was conducted on 120 current migrants and 250 returnees.

RMMRU Executive Director Prof CR Abrar said Bangladeshi migrant workers see better future in Maldives.

Although studies to some extent have been done on main migration corridors in the Gulf, "Generally, we can say that [Maldives is] an under-researched area," Abrar said.

According to the RMMRU study, a Bangladeshi migrant worker spent Tk 2,05,997 on an average in order to migrate to Maldives.

In 59 percent of the cases, migration facilitation was done by sub-agents or intermediaries, it said.

A Bangladeshi migrant worker works for 11 to 12 hours a day and six days a week with only 64 percent receiving overtime bills, it says.

A current migrant worker remitted Tk 2,97,667 over the previous 12 months on an average, he added.

Meanwhile, 45 percent documented and 52 percent undocumented workers reported discrimination at workplace over issues like fixation of salary and increment.

Eighteen percent reported they were subjected to physical or verbal abuse at some point.

Moreover, 16 percent respondents faced challenges to secure medical services there.

Seventy-four percent respondents were able to secure necessary services from the Bangladesh High Commission in Male, the study revealed.

Shahidul Alam, director general of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), said Maldives can be a significant labour market for Bangladeshi workers.

Referring to an ongoing embargo by Maldives on hiring workers from Bangladesh, the DG said Bangladesh foreign ministry needs to take step in this regard.