Despite a marked rise in the country’s lobour migration this year, its remittance flow has declined by about 11 per cent compared to the previous year, says a new study. 

The study, which was carried out by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), reveals that Bangladesh earned remittance of US$ 12.65 billion up to November in 2016 while it was US$ 15.11 billion in 2015, reports UNB.  

RMMRU founding chair Dr Tasneem Siddiqui presented the findings of the Annual Migration Trends Report-2016 (Patterns and Trends of Labour Migration 2016: Achievements and Challenges) at a press conference at National Press Club on Wednesday.

The report shows that maximum 18.98 per cent remittance of the country came from the Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA) while 17.88 per cent from the United Arab Emirates, 14.34 per cent from the USA and 9.3 per cent from Malaysia. 

Dr Tasneem said the remittance flow declined in 2016 due to the decline in the price of fuel oil in the Middle East, which cuts the job opportunity of Bangladesh workers, crisis in Syria and Iraq, and devaluation of British Pound and Malaysian Ringgit. 

In 2016, the study shows, about 7.5 lakh Bangladeshi workers migrated to different countries, which is a 35 per cent rise than the previous year. A total of 555,881 workers migrated abroad in 2015. 

About female labour migration, it found that 108,769 women migrated to different countries in 2016, which is about 16 per cent of total migration. The female labour migration rate was 22.8 per cent in 2015. 

Speaking at the press conference, eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik said illegal transfer of money from abroad to the country may be another reason behind the decline in remittance this year. Many people send money to the country from abroad through illegal channel, he added. 

He called upon the government to take effective steps to save Bangladeshi workers who fall victim to various troubles after they go abroad through illegal ways.