EPS pass holders protest delay in S Korea jobs
Hundreds of Bangladeshi Employment Permit System (EPS) pass holders staged demonstrations in Dhaka on Thursday, demanding immediate steps to ensure their migration to South Korea and alleging irregularities in the recruitment process.
The protesters, mostly from the 2022 and 2023 EPS batches, formed a human chain, brought out rallies and held a sit-in in front of Probashi Kallyan Bhaban in Eskaton, where Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited is located.
They alleged bribery, corruption and mismanagement in the recruitment process, claiming that nearly 12,000 workers were removed from the roster despite passing the EPS examination.
Many protesters came from different districts to join the programme. They chanted slogans against alleged corruption in BOESL and the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
“We passed the EPS examination with the hope of working in South Korea, but now our future is uncertain,” one protester said. “We want a migration system free from middlemen and corruption.”
Another protester, Abir, said his EPS validity expired on 4 April after he waited for more than two years without being sent to South Korea.
The protesters demanded immediate reinstatement of excluded workers through an “auto-roster” system and greater transparency in the recruitment process for South Korea-bound workers.
They also demanded an investigation into alleged corruption in the ministry and BOESL.
The demonstrators called for suspension of new EPS circulars until the auto-roster system is introduced. They also sought multiple opportunities for files from the 2022 and 2023 batches to be sent to Korean employers.
Following the protest, a six-member delegation of the job seekers held talks with officials of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury assured them that the government would examine the issue seriously and take necessary steps after reviewing the documents submitted by the delegation.
“The state minister, the prime minister’s special assistant and the secretary will sit together this afternoon to review the matter. Then we will take the necessary measures,” the minister told the protesters.
State Minister Nurul Haque Nur and senior officials of the ministry and BOESL were also present at the meeting.
The minister, however, expressed disappointment that the protesters had taken to the streets before submitting a written proposal to the ministry.
The EPS candidates urged the government to take swift and effective action to resolve the crisis and ensure their long-awaited migration to South Korea for employment.
