Unilateral increase in Wage Earners’ Welfare Board fee unfairly burdens prospective migrants - Prothom Alo English
The Trade Union–Civil Society Action Alliance (TUCSAA) expresses deep concern over the government’s recent decision to increase the mandatory Wage Earners’ Welfare Board membership fee from Tk 3,500 to Tk 5,500, reports a press release.
While the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment attributes this 57 per cent hike to expanding welfare services and rising operational costs, this unilateral decision directly inflates migration costs for low-income jobseekers who already face exorbitant pre-departure expenses.
Migrant workers remain the bedrock of Bangladesh’s economy, driving national development through their hard-earned foreign exchange remittances.
Given their immense contributions, the government should either allocate direct state subsidies from the national budget or utilise the accumulated interest and reserves of the existing Wage Earners' Welfare Fund, rather than shifting the financial burden onto prospective migrants by increasing pre-departure costs.
This decision also highlights serious governance gaps regarding stakeholder inclusion and decision-making transparency. The abrupt fee adjustment was enacted without meaningful participation, consultation or input from prospective migrants, returnees, trade unions or civil society organisations.
Deciding key migration policies without participation ignores the lived financial realities of workers who are forced to bear the heavy strain of recruitment costs.
To ensure true accountability, the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board must maintain complete financial transparency by regularly publishing accessible, updated data on its official websites.
While the board publishes general beneficiary metrics, essential financial statistics, including annual welfare fee collections, total yearly expenditures and accumulated fund reserves, remain undisclosed or severely outdated.
The public and migrant workers have a right to clear, publicly accessible financial disclosures detailing exact fund administration, annual receipts, and operational expenses.
TUCSAA urges the Government of Bangladesh to promptly reconsider the fee-increment decision and explore the scope of financing migrant welfare programs through state subsidies and existing welfare fund reserves.
Migration governance must prioritise cost reduction, administrative accountability, and the active inclusion of migrant voices in all regulatory decisions affecting their rights and livelihoods.
