Last month, while economists debated IMF tranches in air-conditioned seminars, twelve million Bangladeshis quietly wired home $2.6 billion. No conditions. No missions. No press releases. Just love, converted to foreign exchange at Tk 119.50 to the dollar.
Let us be blunt: our expatriate workers are Bangladesh's real central bank. They fund more imports than garment profits repatriated. They build more schools than many ministries. Yet at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport, the VIP glides through while the worker who paid for the terminal queues for hours and gets his bag cut open.
I propose three reforms. First, treat remitters as investors: an 8% diaspora bond, voting rights for citizens abroad, and priority services — from passports to hospital beds. Second, make migration zero-cost: jail the brokers who charge Tk 5 lakh for a Tk 80,000 ticket. Third, honour returnees: a worker who spent 20 years in the Gulf desert should land to a handshake, not harassment.
Nations are judged by how they treat those who feed them. Our migrants feed us. It is time we served them first.
— Daily Best News Desk • Fearless in the search for truth
Reported by Dr. Naila Chowdhury • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
