Bangladesh, IOM ink deal to support migrants with debts

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - The Bangladesh government and a UN migration agency signed an agreement to provide support to migrants who returned home laden with debt.

Bangladesh finance ministry and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) inked the deal Monday in Dhaka, according to the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency.

The IOM will implement a $200,000 project, Bangladesh: Debt Mediation for Returnee Migrants, by March 2021.

“IOM will conduct a study on migrants who returned home with a loan burden and will form necessary policies to give the migrants necessary supports for bringing them in the mainstream of the economic activities,” according to BSS.

High migrant costs and low wages burden Bangladeshi migrants who move to other countries seeking a better life. A previous study in November 2018 showed about 65% migrants take loans to go abroad to obtain work.