Oman, currently the largest destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers, has decided to put a ban on overseas recruitment for a period of six months starting November 1.
“The Bangladesh Embassy in Oman has informed us that visas will not be issued for construction workers and cleaners for six months,” said Shamsun Nahar, director general of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) yesterday.
She could not specify any reason behind the decision, but she told the Dhaka Tribune that the labour counsellor at Bangladesh Embassy in Oman was trying to pursue the Omani authorities to review the decision.
Shamsun Nahar said the decision would certainly affect Bangladesh’s overseas job market.
The embassy in a letter said Bangladeshis were believed to have significant amount of presence in the two categories in Oman and many more were aspiring to find jobs in the fields.
The Omani manpower ministry promulgated an item of its labour law to stop issuance of visas for workers in construction and cleaning jobs in the private sector, reported the Muscat Daily website on October 24.
The decision, however, excludes top companies, consultancy firms and those implementing government projects.
“It is a temporary ban and the Oman government is trying to regulate foreign workers,” Bangladesh Labour Counsellor to Oman Major AKM Rabiul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.
Expatriates’ Welfare Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan acknowledged having heard the news and said he was trying to learn why the ban was imposed. He said 500,000 Bangladeshis were staying in Oman now.
Officials at the BMET said migrant workers from Bangladesh went to Oman mainly to work in the construction and cleaning sectors.
A total of 102,357 workers have gone to Oman during January-September this year, according to the BMET. Bangladesh Bank data shows that the country received $610m as remittance from Oman in 2012-13 fiscal year and $151mfrom July to September this year.
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Secretary General Ali Haider Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune that the overall overseas jobs would fall as Oman was currently the largest labour market.
He said many were still going to the country with the help of their relatives but many of them remained unemployed.