Bangladesh borrows loan from WB for migrant workers' welfare

The Bangladeshi government Monday signed a 40 million U.S. dollars credit agreement with the World Bank for a project for repatriation and livelihood restoration of the country's migrant workers, the Washington-based lender said.

M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, and Ellen Goldstein, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides here in capital Dhaka Monday.

Based on a World Bank's news release issued here, the recent crisis in Libya poses a important shock to the income of Bangladeshi migrants and their families.

Of the estimated 70,000 to 80,000 Bangladeshis working in Libya, it stated far more than 35,000 have returned residence since the outbreak of the crisis.

"Migrant labors are a source of excellent economic resilience for Bangladesh," stated Bangladesh's Minister for Expatriate's Welfare and Overseas Employment Khandker Mosharraf Hossain. "In their time of need, it can be the government's duty to come to their aid as a way to bring them residence and supply them with resources to reestablish themselves."

According to the news release, the World Bank financing will retroactively cover the price of transport for 10,000 returnees brought to Bangladesh with support from the International Migration Organization (IOM).

Under the project, it stated the government will also offer a one-time cash grant of around 50,000 taka (714.29 U.S. dollars) to 35,000 eligible Bangladeshi migrant workers following their return.

The World Bank financing will add to the Bangladeshi government financing of 4.6 million U.S. dollars, together with nearly 30 million U.S. dollars in grant funding from donor organizations raised by means of IOM's global appeal, it added.

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