Bangladeshi expatriates living in South Africa facing multifarious problems including attacks by locals are now seeking support from the government.
Each time they are attacked, they inform the Bangladesh High Commission in Pretoria, one of the three capital cities of South Africa, but their pleas for help go unheeded, Bangladeshi migrant workers alleged.
They also said they could not send money through legal procedures as South Africa has no banking relationship with Bangladesh.
Migrant workers think that their problems would be solved to a great extent if the South African government opens an embassy in Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshis who travelled to South Africa over the last several years are now well established in various sectors including businesses.
Migrant workers said they had gone to South Africa through student and tourist visas and they are treated well by the South African government.
Although there are no accurate statistics, 80,000 to 100,000 Bangladeshis are said to be staying in South Africa.
South Africa has no embassy or consular office in Dhaka. As a result, a Bangladeshi has to go to Sri Lanka to get a South African visa.
“If I want to bring my mother to South Africa, I have to get a visa of Sri Lanka first and then I have to manage South African visa from Sri Lanka,” Mohiuddin Babul, an expatriate Bangladeshi in South Africa told the Dhaka Tribune over phone recently.
“I have been running business very well for about six years but sometimes I am attacked by locals. We inform our embassy in Pretoria but it does not work,” Babul alleged. “If an office or embassy is opened in Bangladesh, I think many problems could be solved.”
Like many Bangladeshi expatriates, he too cannot send money through legal channels, Babul said adding that Bangladeshi expatriates are also harassed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
About one and a half years ago, a delegation led by Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan visited South Africa.
He said after whites left South Africa, India, Malaysia and Bangladesh have been dominating the business there.
“We have held meetings with Bangladeshi expatriates and they alleged that locals out of jealousy launch attack on them and snatch away money and properties,” the secretary told the Dhaka Tribune over telephone yesterday.
Terming South Africa a prospective overseas labour market, Zafar Ahmed hoped the situation would improve if bilateral relations could be strengthened.
In 2012, a delegation led by Law Minister Shafique Ahmed visited South Africa. The law minister said Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa are well-established in business.
“I have inaugurated a Bengali School in South Africa during my visit,” the law minister told the Dhaka Tribune over telephone yesterday.
Shafique said he had asked the foreign ministry to talk to the South African government about opening an embassy in Bangladesh.
When contacted, foreign ministry officials said the South African government was not interested in opening an embassy in Bangladesh.
The South African government, however, assured that if they ever opened an embassy outside Africa, the first to be opened would be in Bangladesh.