Omar Faruk, a Bangladeshi construction worker, was killed in a road accident on the way to work in Saudi Arabia in 2001.
Thirteen years later, his relatives back home are still waiting for compensation from the company where he worked.
“In the last 13 years, we didnot get any compensation. In 2009, as per requirement, I sent all necessary documents to the relevant authorities, but we are yet to get anything,” Omar’s son-in-law, Kamaluddin Sumon, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Omar’s family in Lakshmipur’sCharvoga village still do not know when, or whether, they would get any compensation at all.
Like Omar Faruk, many relatives of migrants who died while working abroad gather at the Expatriates’ Welfare Board at the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry, but find little relief.
“Many relatives of the victims come to us, but we cannot give any satisfactory answer to them,” MdMohsin Chowdhury,director the board,said yesterday.
According to the board, around 800 cases of compensation are pending in Saudi courts alone. Some of the cases have been going on for 18 to 20 years.
Officials at the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh said compensation for the families depends on the worker’s employment conditions and whether he or she changed jobs.
Receiving compensation also depends on reports from the police and hospitals, and there is no guarantee of reparation for those killed in road accidents, the officials said.
The welfare board, however, could not say how many Bangladeshis were killed in accidents over the past decade.
“The cases go to court and theyhave to be proven in the court for realising compensation,” Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Md Shahidul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.
“It requires time to complete the various processes, but we still try to get compensation,” Shahiduladded.
The envoy also said the number of pending cases was huge, and the consular offices work under pressure.
According to Saudi government figures, around 12lakh Bangladeshislive in Saudi Arabia.However, other sources claim that the number of migrant workers could be double that number.