Iraq to recruit workers from Bangladesh

Iraq will recruit skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers from Bangladesh after the signing of a memorandum of understanding on worker recruitment, the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment said in a press release.

The ministry issued the release late on Thursday, October 16, confirming the agreement reached at a two-day joint committee meeting in Dhaka. Under the MoU, Bangladeshi workers will sign employment contracts before departing for Iraq. The Bangladesh embassy in Iraq will identify sectors with labour demand and coordinate recruitment.

The MoU was signed by Ahmadul Haque, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, and Kazim Abdur Reza Khayoon At-Wani, Director General of the Media, Arab and International Relations Department of Iraq.

Senior Secretary Neamat Ullah Bhuiyan attended the talks on behalf of the Bangladeshi side. Discussions covered safe, regular and orderly labour migration, cooperation in manpower supply, possibilities for sending skilled and semi-skilled workers to Iraq, and regularising irregular Bangladeshi workers already employed there.

A “record of discussion” was signed at the conclusion of the meeting. Among the agreed measures, the Iraqi government will issue work visas for Bangladeshis in identified sectors, and recruitment will proceed only after demand letters from Iraqi employers are attested by the Bangladesh embassy to ensure transparency and worker protection.