Recruiting Agencies Oikko Parishad has made four-point demand, including provision of labour fare on air tickets for remittance warriors.
The demands were made at a human chain held in front of the National Press Club in the city on Saturday.
They also urged the authorities concerned to provide financial incentives to the manpower recruiting agency owners declaring manpower sector as an industry, stop harassing the agency owners under the Human Trafficking Act despite sending workers abroad legally using their smart cards, and to enlist the recruiting agencies in Bangladesh and foreign embassies.
Speakers at the human chain said that various airlines, including Bangladesh Biman, have unreasonably increased the price of air tickets for travelling to Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries three to four times. Foreign airlines are taking billions of dollars of hard-earned foreign currency from the country. Air tickets for travelling Arab countries from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka cost Tk 18,000-22,000, but air tickets from Bangladesh to the same destinations cost Tk 60,000-90,000.
They further said that, since 1976, more than 3.3 million male and female remittance warriors have been legally employed in different countries of the world. Currently, due to the Corona epidemic, the manpower sector and the recruiting agencies have incurred a loss of hundreds of crores of taka.
They further said that recruiting agencies employ remittance warriors by accepting their smart cards issued by BMET in compliance with proper regulations of the government. Hundreds of employers and employees of the recruiting agencies have to face imprisonment under the non-bailable section of the Human Trafficking Act, despite the involvement of various authorities in sending an employee abroad.
“We want an end to this harassment for good. We want amendment to the Human Trafficking Act-2012 through the National Parliament with the declaration that it would be outside the jurisdiction of Human Trafficking Act if workers are sent by accepting smart cards”, they added.
President of the council M Tipu Sultan and Secretary General Arifur Rahman were present at the event, among others.