DHAKA: Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Sunday said licenses of 77 recruiting agencies were cancelled in last five years due to the charges of irregularities.

Moreover, over Tk 6.42 crore of their security money was forfeited and around Tk 17 crore was collected as compensation for the affected people.

He made the disclosure in a question-answer session at the National Parliament on Sunday.

The people who intend to go abroad now can easily do their bank draft and finger print at the Expatriates’ Welfare Bank so that they won’t be cheated by any middlemen.

He also told the House that around four million people of the country went to the Middle East in last one year.

A large number of workers are sent recently to some 159 countries from Bangladesh, he added.

BDST: 1650 HRS, JUN 29, 2014