Korea resumes receiving Bangladesh expatriate workers
So far, more than 20,000 Bangladesh workers have been dispatched to Korea through the EPS system
92 Bangladesh workers left for Korea from Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport via chartered flights operated by a Korean air company on Wednesday (5 January). It was the first batch of Bangladesh expatriate workers going to Korea this year.
The South Korean Government suspended accepting foreign workers in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed receiving the expatriates from last month, read a press release.
After the resumption, so far, a total of 203 Bangladesh expatriate workers have travelled to Korea. In December, 111 Bangladesh workers were admitted to Korea.
Among the 92 workers who were admitted this time, 44 workers were newly employed while the rest of them were re-entry workers.
Korea has been admitting medium and low-skilled foreign workers from 16 countries including Bangladesh through the EPS (Employment Permit System) program. Due to the unprecedented and prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, however, the Korean Government suspended receiving EPS workers.
Accommodating continuous requests from the sending countries as well as from the employers, the Korean Government decided to lift the suspension from November last year in a limited scope and phased manner with strict Covid-19 protective measures including quarantines.
Ambassador Lee Jang-Keun stressed that Bangladesh EPS workers have played a crucial role in the Korea-Bangladesh relations contributing not only to the economic development of Bangladesh but also to the supply of labour force to Korean industry.
He welcomed the resumption of receiving Bangladesh workers and hoped that Korea would be able to accommodate more EPS workers from Bangladesh in the coming years.
So far, more than 20,000 Bangladesh workers have been dispatched to Korea through the EPS system.
According to the Bangladesh Bank, the remittance inflow from the Bangladesh workers in Korea amounted to 209.16 million US dollars in FY 2020/21 which made Korea the thirteenth major source of expatriate workers' remittance. Korea ranked the 12th in FY 2019/20 with 177.84 million US dollars.
The inflow of remittance from Korea has been growing fast in recent years from 80.65 million US dollars in FY 2016/17 to 96.29 million US dollars in FY 2017/18 and 112.51 US dollars in FY 2018/19.
