Stop harassment of migrants in the name medical check-up

It is unacceptable that the Bangladeshi aspiring migrant workers, willing to get a work or residency visa abroad, are being exploited by some listed medical check-up centres, responsible for giving health reports. For example, to enter any of the Gulf countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – the willing migrant workers have to obtain a health clearance report from one of these medical centres listed by the Gulf Health Council (GHC) in the country. These centres are allegedly giving fake negative reports if the migrants are not willing to pay bribes. It is ruining the migrant workers’ chances of going foreign lands for work, though they are one of the highest remittance earners for the country.
According to a newspaper report, Nesar Mia, one such individual who was supposed to go to Qatar, was told that he had tuberculosis at the Stemz Health Care BD Pvt Ltd in Dhaka. Skeptical of the test result, he submitted his samples to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, where he tested negative for the disease. When he contacted Stemz, the centre’s officials proposed that he could be shown as TB negative if he paid them Tk 1 lakh, in addition to the Tk 8,500 fee he had paid for his medical examination. As he refused, they (Stemz) uploaded the fake result online, making it impossible for him to go to Qatar.
Even an investigation by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) found that many aspiring migrants have been victims of similar irregularities at the hands of some of these medical centres. They are being blackmailed and charged additional money in the name of different fees. Most migrants, however, refrain from lodging complaints, fearing further hassles. However, in the cases that were complained about, the DGHS completed its duty just by issuing suspension orders and show-cause notices, only to withdraw the suspension orders a few days later.
Our migrant workers must not suffer like this. They are earning millions of dollars leaving behind their homes, often under desperate circumstances. They are the country’s one of the highest remittance earners. It is heartbreaking that they are forced to accept all these irregularities and misdeeds. They fear that pursuing cases against the medical centres in the long term is also not a financially feasible option for them. Why do the authorities concerned keep failing to protect migrant workers at every step? It’s a big question now!