The world’s largest NGO Brac and Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exports Association in Bangladesh (LFMEAB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide emergency support and reintegration for vulnerable women who returned from Saudi Arabia after being brutally tortured by their employers.
Shariful Islam, program head of Brac migration, and LFMEAB President Saiful Islam signed the MoU – in this regard – at a program held at Brac centre on Monday morning.
Kazi Riazul Haque, chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), was the chief guest at the program.
Riazul said the government did not do enough “to save our women who went to Saudi Arabia.”
“The government should take all necessary steps to protect our citizens – both male and female – who went abroad to earn remittance in exchange of their pride.”
Countless women were brutally tortured by their foreign employers Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Saiful Islam said: “We will provide jobs for our women. And also provide jobs for 360 women, who returned from Saudi Arabia, with due respect. Initially we are giving jobs to 50 of them.”
Shariful Islam said a total of 5,000 victims have returned in the last three years, and 1,000 women who were tortured physically, mentally, and sexually were brought back in the last one year – 360 of whom were brought back from May till June 10 this year.
According to Brac Migration, even though these women had gone abroad – leaving behind their family in the pursuit of earning and happiness – they all had to be brought back empty-handed and on top of that, their own families also denied providing them with any shelter.
According to Brac Migration, a total of 735,575 Bangladeshi women are now working in several countries and 234,831 have been working in Saudi Arabia.
More than 200,000 were sent to Saudi Arabia after signing the agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia in 2015, the NGO’s migration program said.
Even though there are numerous allegations about Bangladeshi women being tortured by their foreign employers, there is no data on as to how many tortured women were brought back in Bangladesh, they further added.
Among the tortured women, 125 had applied to the Wage Earners Welfare Board to bring them home, according to Brac Migration – which brought back 90 of the women and is undergoing the procedure to bring the remaining 35 women to the country.
Cheque giving ceremony at Brac centre Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Few of the women, who returned from Saudi Arabia, shared their horrifying experiences of torture with media during the cheque distribution ceremony at the same event.
The women who returned to Bangladesh from Saudi Arabia share their horrifying experience Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
They urged authorities to bring the others, as soon as possible, to save their lives. They also urged people not to send women to Saudi Arabia as maids – they also asked women to not go there and face the dire consequences as they did.
In the program, LFMEAB President Saiful Islam and NHRC Chairman Kazi Riazul Haque handed over cheques of Tk100,000 each to 22 women.
