Kuwait has again imposed a restriction on recruitment of workers from Bangladesh, Gulf News reported on Monday.
"Interior Minister Shaikh Khalid Al Jarrah has ordered the ban and asked the interior ministry to apply it," the newspaper reported quoting Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda, citing a security source.
The source attributed the decision to irregularities and abuses by traffickers in work and residency permits for Bangladeshis whose numbers have increased remarkably following the recent lifting of a ban on their recruitment, it said.
When contacted, Nomita Halder, secretary at the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, said Bangladesh embassy in Kuwait has yet to confirm them about the ban.
"If it is true, we will look for new job market," she said, adding that it will not put any impact on other job destination countries in the Gulf region. Labour migration to the Arab country has slowed in recent times.
About the allegations brought by the Kuwaiti authority, she said if there is demand for Bangladeshi workers, the job market would not be closed.
The country may meet the demand for their workers from other labour sending countries, she added.
The abuses were mainly related to the employment of domestic helpers despite the existence of strict regulations, security agencies said the reports that triggered the ban, the Gulf News said.
Some Bangladeshis are recruited to work in the Arab Gulf countries through a complex process that involves private agents and brokers and results at times in recruitment malpractices and deceptions, it said.
The number of Bangladeshis was 200,000 in Kuwait in 2016, according to the daily.
Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, joint secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said it will create a negative impact on the Bangladesh's overseas job sector. When workers can't go to the Arab country through legal channel, then they want to go there in illegal way. So, both the governments should discuss issues related to alleged irregularities to find a solution, he said.
Kuwait started hiring Bangladeshi workers in 1976 and until 2007, around 480,000 workers were recruited, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) data.
Kuwait stopped recruiting Bangladeshi workers in 2007 after detecting irregularities in their recruitment and their involvement in illegal activities, the report said.
In 2014, Kuwait decided to lift the ban and allow Bangladeshis to work in the Gulf country. But in May 2016, Kuwait imposed a ban on male domestic helpers following security reports that there were irregularities.
Foreigners make up two-thirds of the Kuwait's total population of 4.5 million. Indians make up the largest expatriate community in the country whereas Egyptians top the list of Arab communities.
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