Reza Mahmud :
Fear has been created for losing the country’s largest labour market in the Saudi Arabia due to the new condition set by the Kingdom to recruit male and female workers at 75 and 25 per cent ratio.
Sources said, Saudi Arabia has imposed a new condition in last December that it would issue visa for 75 per cent male workers if any agency agreed to send 25 per cent of female labours.
“We are in serious problem about sending female workers abroad. If any female face some sort of difficulties in host countries, critics labeled that as women trafficking,” Md. Ruhul Amin Swapan, General Secretary of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) told The New Nation.
On the other hand, he said, the Saudi Arabia imposed
conditions that 25 per cent female labour is a must to get working visas for 75 per cent male workers.”
According to government to government agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia for domestic helps one male labour can get visa after every two female workers. But it was not applicable for the non domestic sectors.
But now the Saudi Arabia has set the conditions. As a result, the recruiting agencies who fails to fulfill the female workers quota, does not get any visa for male labours for that country.
Besides, the country has taken tough stance against the illegal workers staying there. It has given three months time for the illegal foreign workers, including more than one lakh Bangladeshis, to leave the country instead of giving them a chance to be ligalised.
“As a conservative society it is hard to get female workers here to send abroad. In this circumstance, the Saudi Arabia stopped to give visa to male workers. We have repeatedly failed to send our male workers to that country. We are very much anxious about losing our largest manpower market,” said, Shariful Islam, an executive of Dynamic Trade Syndicate, a recruiting agency in Dhaka.
BAIRA sources said, Saudi Arabia stopped to recruit Bangladeshi workers from 2008. Before that every year around two lakh of workers were sent to that country. After a long eight years gap, Saudi Arabia had opened its market for Bangladeshi workers in a limited space giving priority to women workers. But due to non-fulfillment of their tougher stance about the female workers’ quota, the country stopped giving visas to about 50,000 of male workers in December last.
They said, dates of medical tests of many workers have expired but the Saudi Embassy here is not taking their passports due to the female worker issue. Though thousands of workers have earlier submitted their passports to Saudi Embassy in Dhaka, a very few of them are getting visas.
On the other hand, officials of Saudi embassy said that they failed to collect passports not for the female worker issue but for because of shortage of their manpower.
Some of the recruiting agencies said, there are various problems to collect women workers for foreign countries, though it is not impossible. Moreover, all the recruiting agencies were not given permission to send female workers abroad.
“There are more than 1000 recruiting agencies in the country. But only 350 were given permission to send female workers abroad. So, the rest of the agencies will not be able to send male or female workers to Saudi Arabia,” said Managing Director of a recruiting agency preferring anonymity.
“The largest labour market for Bangladeshi workers is now at a stake. The government should take emergency efforts to protect it,” he said.
When contacted BAIRA President Benjir Ahmed said, “The female workers issue is very sensitive. Many agencies are ignoring to recruit female workers to avoid harassment as if a false accusation is made by any woman working in the middle eastern countries. As a result, the largest market of thousands of male workers is now at a stake.”
Fear has been created for losing the country’s largest labour market in the Saudi Arabia due to the new condition set by the Kingdom to recruit male and female workers at 75 and 25 per cent ratio.
Sources said, Saudi Arabia has imposed a new condition in last December that it would issue visa for 75 per cent male workers if any agency agreed to send 25 per cent of female labours.
“We are in serious problem about sending female workers abroad. If any female face some sort of difficulties in host countries, critics labeled that as women trafficking,” Md. Ruhul Amin Swapan, General Secretary of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) told The New Nation.
On the other hand, he said, the Saudi Arabia imposed
conditions that 25 per cent female labour is a must to get working visas for 75 per cent male workers.”
According to government to government agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia for domestic helps one male labour can get visa after every two female workers. But it was not applicable for the non domestic sectors.
But now the Saudi Arabia has set the conditions. As a result, the recruiting agencies who fails to fulfill the female workers quota, does not get any visa for male labours for that country.
Besides, the country has taken tough stance against the illegal workers staying there. It has given three months time for the illegal foreign workers, including more than one lakh Bangladeshis, to leave the country instead of giving them a chance to be ligalised.
“As a conservative society it is hard to get female workers here to send abroad. In this circumstance, the Saudi Arabia stopped to give visa to male workers. We have repeatedly failed to send our male workers to that country. We are very much anxious about losing our largest manpower market,” said, Shariful Islam, an executive of Dynamic Trade Syndicate, a recruiting agency in Dhaka.
BAIRA sources said, Saudi Arabia stopped to recruit Bangladeshi workers from 2008. Before that every year around two lakh of workers were sent to that country. After a long eight years gap, Saudi Arabia had opened its market for Bangladeshi workers in a limited space giving priority to women workers. But due to non-fulfillment of their tougher stance about the female workers’ quota, the country stopped giving visas to about 50,000 of male workers in December last.
They said, dates of medical tests of many workers have expired but the Saudi Embassy here is not taking their passports due to the female worker issue. Though thousands of workers have earlier submitted their passports to Saudi Embassy in Dhaka, a very few of them are getting visas.
On the other hand, officials of Saudi embassy said that they failed to collect passports not for the female worker issue but for because of shortage of their manpower.
Some of the recruiting agencies said, there are various problems to collect women workers for foreign countries, though it is not impossible. Moreover, all the recruiting agencies were not given permission to send female workers abroad.
“There are more than 1000 recruiting agencies in the country. But only 350 were given permission to send female workers abroad. So, the rest of the agencies will not be able to send male or female workers to Saudi Arabia,” said Managing Director of a recruiting agency preferring anonymity.
“The largest labour market for Bangladeshi workers is now at a stake. The government should take emergency efforts to protect it,” he said.
When contacted BAIRA President Benjir Ahmed said, “The female workers issue is very sensitive. Many agencies are ignoring to recruit female workers to avoid harassment as if a false accusation is made by any woman working in the middle eastern countries. As a result, the largest market of thousands of male workers is now at a stake.”
