Expatriates' Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said on Thursday that sending large numbers of workers abroad will bring the country no real benefit unless they are skilled.

He spoke while inaugurating a trolley service for migrant workers' luggage at Shah Amanat International Airport and visiting the expatriate welfare desk there, according to a press release from the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment. 

Workers going abroad must be skilled," the minister said. He added that if the country cannot send skilled workers, dispatching hundreds of thousands merely to raise the numbers would be unhelpful.

During the visit, he spoke directly with outbound passengers and asked about their facilities, needs, and difficulties.

He told airport authorities that an emergency medical centre should be set up quickly for the workers and said instructions had already been given to select a site. He said the government was fully prepared to provide all necessary facilities to expatriate workers.

The minister said migrant passengers often face severe hardship because of schedule disruptions or flight delays and that the airport's distance from the city makes accommodation and food harder to find. He said there are plans to build a rest house beside the airport so passengers can stay comfortably in any situation.

At a later press briefing, the minister said about 434,000 workers had found overseas employment in the seven months since the government took office, despite adverse conditions such as the war in the Middle East. He said he expected better results in the labour market in the coming days.

Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Zahidul Islam Mia proposed strengthening legal assistance for expatriates at the event. The minister said he would consider it seriously and assured that effective steps would be taken to protect expatriates' legal rights.

Senior officials from the ministry, the Chattogram district administration, and the airport authorities attended the event, along with Md Abdur Rahman Tarafdar, the secretary of the Labour and Employment Ministry.