Four Bangladeshi visa frauds that used to cheat their compatriot migrant workers out of their fortune have been arrested in Qatar recently.
The frauds were all Bangladeshi taxi drivers in Qatar. They were identified as Makbul, Enamul, Babul and Darul Islam.
First Secretary (labour) Shafiul Azim told the Dhaka Tribune over phone on Wednesday, “We have received a number of allegations against a section of unscrupulous middlemen cheating the migrant workers.”
He said four such Bangladeshis were arrested on April 16 while another named Kalam hailing from Comilla managed to escape.
Though they were mere taxi drivers by profession, they could manage tourist visas and cheat scores of innocent migrant workers out of their fortune.
The first secretary said they had no office, nor were they recruiting agents, but they could bring people to Qatar on visit visas. They sold a visa for Tk3,00,000, he said, adding that when a Bangladeshi migrant came to Qatar, after one month the middlemen suggested the worker for a checkup.
“Then the middlemen claimed that you were medically unfit and you got to return home. Thus the migrants had been cheated,” Shafiul Azim mentioned.
Tourist visas were issued for a period of three months.
The official said: “Unless such illegal activities are stopped, our prospective labour market might be affected.”
