Saudi rules out fresh hiring (Rohingya News)
Saudi rules out fresh hiring from Bangladesh
By Mizan Rahman Dhaka,
Saudi Arabia authorities are closely observing Bangladeshi expatriate workers as some of them were allegedly involved in various criminal offences in the Gulf kingdom, according to a Bangladesh minister.
“At the moment they (Saudis) are not willing to recruit workers from Bangladesh until the crime tendency among Bangladeshi workers goes down,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told reporters at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka yesterday on his return from the Gulf country.
Mosharraf, who led a six-member delegation to Saudi Arabia, said involvement in crimes by a few Bangladeshi workers has damaged the image of the country.
“During a meeting with Saudi Labour Minister Adel Fakieh, I informed him that we have taken various steps, including the registration of the overseas-bound workers and issuance of smart card, to ensure that men with criminal background can not go to Saudi Arabia or any other country for jobs,” Mosharraf said.
He said if a smart card is scanned, all information of the card-holder will be available.
Mosharraf invited the Saudi labour minister to visit Bangladesh to see the recruiting process and training programmes for the workers who are going abroad for jobs. Besides, if the Saudi authorities have any suggestions, that will be considered, he added.
The minister also met with two Saudi princes and two governors.
The two sides agreed to form a joint working group comprising officials of the labour and manpower, home affairs, and foreign affairs ministries of the two countries. The joint working group will meet once in three months by rotation in Dhaka and Riyadh to discuss issues related to export of manpower.
At present, nearly 2mn Bangladeshi workers are employed in Saudi Arabia.
Asked about the presence of Burmese Rohingya people in Saudi Arabia, Mosharraf said the Saudi side told them that about 600,000 Rohingya workers were staying in Saudi Arabia. Of them, some Burmese nationals entered Saudi Arabia with Bangladesh passports.
Mosharraf said Saudi market for Bangladeshi workers was not completely shut. Last year 15,000 Bangladeshi workers went to Saudi Arabia, he informed.
He said the Saudi government is building five mega cities and they would need huge local and foreign workers for those projects.
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