Dhaka:Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury handed over 150 trolleys at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to assist expatriate workers with baggage transportation.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the Wage Earners' Welfare Board, part of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare, supplied a total of 200 trolleys to three international airports in the country. Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport received 150 trolleys, while Chattogram and Sylhet airports each received 25.
Discussing employment opportunities in Japan, the minister announced a new Employment for Skills Development Programme to replace the existing Technical Internship system. This initiative is part of a recently signed agreement between Bangladesh and Japan aimed at safeguarding Bangladeshi workers in Japan and enhancing collaboration in workforce exchange. The agreement will provide Bangladeshi workers with legal protections similar to those of local workers in Japan and ensure equal workplace opportunities for men and women.
The agreement also stipulates that female workers cannot be dismissed due to pregnancy or childbirth, with no provision for forced repatriation on these grounds.
Addressing the deaths of two Bangladeshis in a Saudi Arabian bombing, the minister stated that one was a migrant worker and the other an Umrah pilgrim. Plans are in place to repatriate their bodies once conditions allow. Additionally, regarding the execution of two Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia, the Bangladesh Embassy has requested detailed information from Saudi authorities, with plans to disclose this information to the public upon receipt.
Present at the trolley handover ceremony were Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Md. Mokhtar Ahmed, Director General of the Wage Earners' Welfare Board Md. Asaduzzaman, Executive Director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Group Captain S. M. Ragib Samad, along with senior officials from the ministry and airport.