The government is sending about 50 officials to help the Bangladesh missions in Saudi Arabia to provide the expatriates with stronger consular services in the backdrop of the general amnesty declared by the kingdom.
“We are sending 20 to 25 people from Bangladesh and mobilising another 15 to 20 from the missions in the other Gulf countries to Saudi Arabia to assist the Bangladeshis who need help,” Additional Foreign Secretary Mustafa Kamal told the Dhaka Tribune.
The Saudi government on May 10 declared general amnesty for all expatriates including Bangladeshis who violated residency and labour regulations, to enable them to amend their status and continue to stay and work in the Kingdom without facing penalties or fines.
Thousands of Bangladeshis are flocking into the Bangladesh missions in Riyadh and Jeddah every day to get new passports to avail the amnesty.
“Just after the announcement, Bangladeshis who don’t have passports gathered [at the embassy] in Riyadh and [the consulate] in Jeddah to get new ones. That has put added pressure on the existing workforce,” Kamal added.
“The additional workforce will work under the supervision of the Bangladesh Ambassador and Consul General in Jeddah,” he said.
They would work at “outposts,” if necessary, to provide better and smoother services to Bangladeshis, Kamal said. “We will send more people to the kingdom if the Bangladesh embassy requires.”
He said the government would everything necessary to help the Bangladeshis in the Gulf country.
“The foreign ministry has sought repatriation fund in the upcoming budget for bringing back Bangladeshis when they face troubles,” he said.
An inter-ministerial meeting, held at the foreign ministry last week, discussed on how the government could provide emergency services to the expatriates about supplying and issuing passports.
The Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh has 12 officers and more than 30 staffs.
Bangladesh’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Md Shahidul Islam recently told the Dhaka Tribune that about 200,000 to 400,000 Bangladeshi could avail the amnesty.
The amnesty will remain valid till July 3. If any illegal worker gets a valid job offer within that date, he or she can change work status and stay legally in the country.
If any worker fails to secure any new job offer by that date, he or she will have to leave Saudi Arabia but will not have to pay any fine or face any punishment.
Officials in Dhaka said around two million Bangladeshis are now working in Saudi Arabia.
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training data indicates that Saudi Arabia limited recruiting workers from Bangladesh in 2009.