Bangladesh halts migration of workers to Maldives

Bangladeshi government has temporarily stopped issuing certificates to workers seeking employment in the Maldives.

A Bangladeshi newspaper reports that Director of Manpower, Export and Training Bureau Abdul Latif Khan announced that the decision to stop issuing certificates was made on Sunday, and was in effect starting Monday.

“It will be effective until a congenial working atmosphere is ensured for the [Bangladeshi] workers in the Maldives,” he said.

Khan said that a delegation from the Bangladeshi government will visit the Maldives soon to assess the environment for migrant workers in the Maldives. He said that the government would resume issuing certificates based on the delegation's recommendations.

According to the Bangladeshi government, around 28,000 workers have migrated to the Maldives between 1973 and 2013, about 8,000 of them this year.

Maldivian authorities say that about 150,000 migrant workers reside in the country, which includes a large number of undocumented workers.