Provide them with language skills training

Female migrant workers should be provided with sufficient skills training, including learning the host country's language for their empowerment and safety in receiving countries, said speakers at a workshop yesterday.

They said strong network among civil society groups in Bangladesh and the receiving end can also play a vital role in ensuring their safety.

International Food Policy Research Institute organised the workshop on "Strengthening Institutions for Empowering Female Migrants in Bangladesh" at a city hotel.

Nomita Halder, managing director of PKSF, said to provide language training to aspirant migrants, returnee migrants who have good knowledge on host countries' language could be employed as trainers.

Nomita, a former secretary of the expatriates' ministry, said such issues should be addressed in government policy intervention.

Disseminating findings of a study report, Nazmun N Ratna of Lincoln University, New Zealand, said female migrant workers are vulnerable to job loss, reduced pay and health issues. Besides, abuse of female migrant workers may be under-reported, she said.

They should also be provided with accurate information regarding their jobs and environment in host countries, said Prof Sadeka Halim, a sociologist and teacher at Dhaka University's sociology department.

Sumaiya Islam, executive director of Nari Sramik Kendra, said female migrant workers in Saudi Arabia could be provided with hostel facility for safety. She stressed for recognising middlemen in migration channel to hold them accountable for fraudulence.