The government of Saudi Arabia is likely to ease restriction on recruitment of Bangladeshi workers following an advice from a ministerial panel, reported the Arab News on Friday.
“We have not received any official letter in this regard but we hope the Saudi government would do so,” Bangladesh Labour Counsellor in Riyadh Md Emdadul Hoque told the Dhaka Tribune over phone on Friday.
He said Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did not officially put ban on recruitment from Bangladesh but it had slowed down significantly since 2009.
According to website of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), a total of 14,666 workers went to KSA in 2009, 7,069 in 2010, 15,039 in 2011 and 21,232 in 2012.
However, a total of 1,32,124 workers went to KSA in 2008, 2,04,112 in 2007, 1,09,513 in 2006 and 80,425 in 2005.
According to Bangladesh Bank, the country received a total of $14,461.14m from abroad in 2012-2013. Of the amount, 3,825.18m came from Saudi Arabia, the highest remittance from a single country.
The Arab News reports there are more than 1.28m Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia.
The steps taken by the Bangladesh government in introducing a process of selecting workers and training them up have convinced KSA to lift ban, said Emdadul.
“We have been able to bring changes in the behaviour of our workers in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government had already allowed Bangladeshi workers to transfer Iqama and change their professions.”
“Recruitment from Bangladesh will resume on a gradual basis beginning with house servants such as maids and drivers,” the Arab News reported.
It said:“The Saudi government would continue to issue visas for Bangladeshi workers, especially to carry out the government‘s cleaning and maintenance contracts.”
The Saudi Embassy has been asked to keep a watch on the measures taken by the Bangladeshi government to ensure that criminal elements are not hired.
Bangladesh pledged that it would not send nationals with criminal backgrounds to the kingdom, the Arab News continued.
Saudi Arabia will also launch a new service to lease housemaids by monthly contracts within two weeks.
The move will allow customers to hire maids on a weekly or hourly basis.
Saad Al-Badah, head of the National Committee for Recruitment at the Council of Saudi Chambers, said the Saudi Manpower Services Company would soon launch the service.
The company has already signed contracts to put various types of workers on the market for houses and other establishments.
“The company has managed to recruit more than 6,000 male and female workers from India, the Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia and Vietnam,” said Al-Badah adding that they would work in different sectors.
Anybody can apply for the service by accessing to the company’s website.
