Staff Reporter :
The government will decide steps to deal with the plight of Bangladeshi female workers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) after talks with the government of the Kingdom later this month, says Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed.
He said that a series of talks with the Middle-Eastern Kingdom have been slated for November 26 and November 27.
“We are worried about the future of the female workers [employed abroad],” he said at the inauguration of an outsourcing training programme in Chapainawabganj district on Saturday.
Imran said that the government will initiate steps ensuring female migrant
workers’ safety, adding that Dhaka won’t agree with Riyadh’s condition of not allowing a country to send migrant workers if it stops sending female migrants.
About Sumi Akter, whose video seeking help to escape from her employer’s abuse went viral on social media, Imran said they would speak with the Saudi authorities once they receive a complaint.
Sumi, who went to Saudi Arabia on May 30 to work as a domestic help only returned after five months on November 15. Sumi became headlines after a video of her went viral on social media.
In the video, she said she was being tortured by her employer and had been “lured to Saudi Arabia with the promise of a good job,” and asked for help.
Since 2015, a quarter million of Bangladeshi women went to the Middle East as workers.
Saudi Arabia is the largest manpower destination for Bangladesh with nearly one-fourth of its expatriate workforce working in the Kingdom.
The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, earlier in September, found that 35 per cent of the returned female workers among a group of 111, were victims of sexual and physical abuse, while 43 percent received wages irregularly. The report identified 11 fundamental reasons why Bangladeshi migrant women fled their workplace, which include physical and sexual abuse, inadequate food, no leave, and irregular salaries.
The government will decide steps to deal with the plight of Bangladeshi female workers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) after talks with the government of the Kingdom later this month, says Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed.
He said that a series of talks with the Middle-Eastern Kingdom have been slated for November 26 and November 27.
“We are worried about the future of the female workers [employed abroad],” he said at the inauguration of an outsourcing training programme in Chapainawabganj district on Saturday.
Imran said that the government will initiate steps ensuring female migrant
workers’ safety, adding that Dhaka won’t agree with Riyadh’s condition of not allowing a country to send migrant workers if it stops sending female migrants.
About Sumi Akter, whose video seeking help to escape from her employer’s abuse went viral on social media, Imran said they would speak with the Saudi authorities once they receive a complaint.
Sumi, who went to Saudi Arabia on May 30 to work as a domestic help only returned after five months on November 15. Sumi became headlines after a video of her went viral on social media.
In the video, she said she was being tortured by her employer and had been “lured to Saudi Arabia with the promise of a good job,” and asked for help.
Since 2015, a quarter million of Bangladeshi women went to the Middle East as workers.
Saudi Arabia is the largest manpower destination for Bangladesh with nearly one-fourth of its expatriate workforce working in the Kingdom.
The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, earlier in September, found that 35 per cent of the returned female workers among a group of 111, were victims of sexual and physical abuse, while 43 percent received wages irregularly. The report identified 11 fundamental reasons why Bangladeshi migrant women fled their workplace, which include physical and sexual abuse, inadequate food, no leave, and irregular salaries.
