Greece opens labour market for Bangladesh

Dhaka and Athens signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on regular migration on Wednesday to allow Bangladeshi workers to migrate to Greece safely and work there legally.

“Greek employers will bear all costs once the recruitment process from Bangladesh is finalised,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said after signing the MoU with Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi in Dhaka.

This is Bangladesh’s first agreement on employment with any European country, the ministry said in a press release.

Bangladesh depends heavily on remittance sent by expatriate workers from across the world. Last year, Bangladeshis sent home $17,959.03 million. The remittance inflow stood at $21.7 billion in 2020, which was 6.73 per cent of the country’s GDP, according to the World Bank.

This latest MoU opens up the path to similar agreement with other EU countries, which could give a massive boost to remittance inflow.

Mitarachi said the agreement would be implemented soon after the Greek parliament cleared it.

According to the MoU, Greece will hire 4,000 seasonal Bangladeshi workers a year for its agriculture sector. The number of sectors will be increased after bilateral talks.

The workers will have to return to Bangladesh after their temporary five-year permits. But they can go back to Greece again for work.

Prospective workers will need to file valid travel documents, legal work contracts, health insurance papers and bear the necessary fees.

Ahmad cautioned jobseekers against frauds and intermediaries as the Greek minister noted that human traffickers preyed on Bangladeshi workers. “This agreement will protect workers’ interest,” Mitarachi said.

In November last year, Dhaka and Athens signed a letter of interest on safe migration to the Mediterranean country. 

Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, and Patroklos Georgiadis, general secretary of Migration Policy of Greece, were present at Wednesday’s MoU signing ceremony. In December last year, Malaysia formally reopened its labour market for Bangladeshi workers after a pause of over three years.