High migration cost makes labourers to overstay in UAE, says envoy

ANIS ALAMGIR

Exorbitant migration costs compel Bangladesh workers to become illegal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Bangladesh ambassador to the UAE Nazmul Quanine yesterday suggested reduction of migration costs for the Bangladeshi workers to avoid untoward incidents in the middle-eastern country. He made the comment while talking to The Independent over phone against the backdrop of the recent arrest of 60-labourer in Dubai. "Everyday we are getting news that one or two Bangladeshi workers got arrested here and this is not new for us", Quanine said, adding that it could be stopped when we send our people properly. Bangladeshi workers spend over Tk two lakh for migration and inmost cases they fail to earn that much money out of their low-paid job during the contract period, he said. "When their contact expires, they do not go back to the country; instead they stay illegally and look for another option to regain the money spent." "No country except Bangladesh is sending labourers spending so much money," he said adding that when Indian and Nepalese middlemen send their people at the sponsor's cost, Bangladeshi middlemen do that at the labourers' cost. Bangladeshi Manpower businessmen are collecting visas in a competitive manner and sometimes their costs go as high as US$ 1000 resulting in a high migration cost. The ambassador said that only 20 per cent labourers came to the UAE under embassy's supervision and the rest with the help of their relatives and friends staying in UAE. "Even those who are coming directly with the help of their relatives have to pay a huge amount to their relatives and friends," he said. On June 14 Dhabi police arrested 60 Bangladeshi nationals from a six-story building on charge of residing there illegally. The dilapidated building, which had 18 apartments, had hundreds of residents living in deplorable conditions. All those arrested were reported to have been absconding by their sponsors. Some of them were staying in that house in improper condition. Quanine said that now the arrested 60 Bangladeshi would have to face their case individually and it would take one or two weeks for judgement. "Normally such guilty people get a maximum of three months' time to leave, if there is no criminal cases against them." He said that in such cases their sponsors could be punished because it is sponsor's duty to provide proper lodgings to his workers.

India to tranship goods via Bangladesh

ANIS ALAMGIR

After adding Ashuganj as the new transshipment point between Bangladesh and India, Bangladesh has eventually allowed multi-module transit to India.
Officially the transit is set to start this month after the May 31 amendment of a protocol, but its actual implementation may be delayed until the road infrastructure on the border is improved, officials here said.
As per the new arrangement, India can now carry its goods not only by waterway but also by road from one part of its territory to the other via Bangladesh territory.
On May 31, the two countries amended the 'Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT)' and added Ashuganj as the fifth port of call in Bangladesh, while in a reciprocal gesture, India declared Shilghat as a port of call for Bangladesh goods on the Indian side. The PIWTT amendment allowed India to carry goods to Ashuganj port by ferry and from there they would be taken to the north-eastern India by land.
"Bangladesh truck and tractor-trailors may carry cargoes transshipped from river craft at Sherpur and Ashuganj to the Indian border," the amendment says.
"It is actually not new as Bangladesh had allowed transit to India long before through Sherpur point but it was not useable as the river was not navigable," said a shipping ministry official adding that "India will use the same route, but along with Sherpur now they can use Ashuganj port too."
A top foreign ministry official also confirmed that there was no need to sign a new agreement between the two countries for transit using Ashuganj-Akhaura route after inserting just one word-Ashuganj-in the PIWTT through the said amendment.
According to the amended PIWTT, the new route would be Kolkata-Holdiya-Raimongal-Mongla-Kaukhali-Barisal-Hizla-Chandpur-Narayangang-Boirabbazar- Ashuganj. From Ashuganj, goods would be carried by Bangladesh trucks and tractor-trailors to the Akhaura-Agartala border.
Since the 1980s, India had been seeking permission to tilise Ashuganj as a transshipment point because it is only 49 km off the Tripura border. Also, this river port is navigable throughout the year.
Now Indian goods can be easily transshipped from West Bengal to the isolated Seven Sisters region through Bangladesh. Bangladesh had drawn up a Tk 2.5-billion project to develop Ashuganj port with modern facilities to handle heavy Indian cargo because it expected huge revenue. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority said preparations were also underway to renovate the 49-km road stretch from the port to the Tripura border.
On the other hand, by a statutory regulatory order (SRO) on June 10, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) had set fees for transshipment and transit of goods from neighbouring countries. It has been placed before the parliament to make it applicable from July 1.
According to the NBR proposal, the fees would be Tk 10,000 per TEU container if the cargo is transported by road or rail in such containers and Tk 1,000 per tonne if transported by covered vans or trucks or in bulk by non-container ships and trains.
However, the NBR decision to set fees for transshipment and transit of goods created lots of questions because to date, there is no study regarding benefits of allowing transit and transshipment to India. "After all, the fee for one tonne gold and iron cannot be same," said a top government official who did not want to be named.
However, in a delayed move, the Bangladesh government has sought assistance from the Asian Development Bank to conduct a study on the economic benefits of providing transit facility to India. Sources said that the ADB was preparing a report after receiving a request from the Tariff Commission and they may handover it to the Commission in the next two months.
NBR officials said that the fees are fixed in advance to expedite the service. The NBR circular also says that controlled items like arms and ammunition, alcoholic drinks and narcotics, endangered species of plants and animals, and other commodities with a ban on their import will not be allowed for transshipment or transit.
The SRO also specifies, Officers of Bangladesh customs must know, and will have the authority to check what goods are being transshipped or in transit.
Earlier in September last year when Bangladesh foreign minister Dr. Dipu Moni visited India, Bangladesh agreed to transportation of some heavy consignments of power generation equipment to Tripura. India will send the ODCs (Over Dimensional Cargo) from Kolkata port to Ashuganj by water way and from there to Pallatana in Tripura state through Ashuganj-Akhaura road for setting up a 726 MW power plant.

The Independent/22-6-2010

US tries hard on Bangladesh to recognise Kosovo

ANIS ALAMGIR

Washington is making all-out hectic diplomatic efforts to impress upon Bangladesh to recognise the new European country Kosovo. US ambassador to Bangladesh James F. Moriarty yesterday met foreign minister Dr Dipu Moni in this regard. "We requested Bangladesh to recognise Kosovo during my meeting with the foreign minister," Moriarty told reporters after his meeting with Dr Moni at her office. He said that so far 60 countries, including majority of the OIC member states, had recognised Kosovo as an independent nation. However, Bangladesh is trying to exercise restraint on the issue as Dhaka's another close ally-Moscow-still considers the newly-born country as part of the Serbian province. In fact, all Dhaka is trying to do is to maintain the stance the US has done vis-à-vis recognition to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Washington still considers as a part of Georgia. "Basically, Russia is not happy with American position on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in the same way as America is not happy with Russian stance on Kosovo. Bangladesh doesn't want to get into all this…," said a top Bangladeshi diplomat. In a press briefing on August 22, 2009, Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes said, "We don't feel the necessity to recognise Kosovo at this moment." Instead, he continued, the government would consider "many factors" before taking a final decision. "If we recognise Kosovo, we are certainly taking a side. But if we don't, we are not leaning to any side," he said. Again, in a meeting with the US ambassador on November 15, 2009, Quayes had said that an independent decision taken be on Bangladesh's recognition of Kosovo, keeping the country's national interests under consideration. The US government has been trying to get Bangladesh's recognition since the last caretaker government came to power. According to media reports, on June 29, 2008, Chief Advisor of the caretaker government Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, during a meeting with Moriarty, had affirmed that "Bangladesh will recognise the new European country". He had also assured the US ambassador that "Bangladesh is committed to lobbying with Asian Muslim countries to recognize Kosovo," and that Bangladesh would actively contribute to the development of the new nation. Following a meeting on December 17, 2008 between Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and US Ambassador Moriarty, there was a media speculation that the question of Kosovo recognition was under "active consideration of the government". Yesterday, talking to the reporters, the US ambassador also said that as of now, he was not sure that the US President Barack Obama would visit Dhaka during his India visit early November. "I will be happy if the President visits Bangladesh, but I don't have any information that he will touch Bangladesh during his India trip", Moriarty added. About the possibility of US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's Dhaka visit, Moriarty said, "She is a great friend of Bangladesh and will visit the country in due course of time." The US ambassador, however, declined to comment on Dhaka-Moscow nuclear framework agreement for setting up Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. published on-7th June 2010, the independent.