Staff Reporter :
As the manpower recruitment agencies are failing to fulfil the 25 percent quota for Bangladeshi female workers, the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka are not accepting their passports.
Though the manpower recruitment agencies got permission from the Expatriate Welfare Ministry to send domestic aids to Saudi Arabia by depositing Tk 15 lakh each as security money but they are failing to send the female workers there. According to sources, a large number of passports from recruiting agencies are waiting to be submitted to the Saudi Embassy, but the Embassy officials are declining to accept those for not fulfilling the 25 percent female quota.
An official of of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), however, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia does not contain any specific condition for female quota.
The MoU rather mentioned that each female worker may take one male worker with her who may be her brother, husband or any close relative.
However, Saudi Arabia would also start soon taking more home workers from Bangladesh as the cabinet of the Kingdom on Monday approved recruitment to this effect.
“The Cabinet approved an arrangement on recruiting home workers between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,” Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
The Cabinet also approved establishment of labour attach, offices at Saudi embassies in Dhaka based on a recommendation by the Standing Committee of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, the news agency reported.
Saudi Arabia in August lifted ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers after seven years, following efforts of the government to this end. Currently, there are some 60,000 female domestic helps among 1.3 million Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom.
According to Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), the Saudi Embassy’s refusal to accept passports of workers has created an uncertainty, which may cause huge financial losses for the recruiters.
The recruiting agencies have already sent 54,000 female workers in recent months against only 20,000 male workers.
BAIRA Secretary General Md Ruhul Amin said after the visa ban in early 2008, only 14,666 workers migrated to Saudi Arabia in 2009. The process to send domestic aids to Saudi Arabia began after the Saudi authorities lifted the ban on 8 February 2015.
