The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) government will take all the Bangladeshi workers, who got stranded in the country due to Covid-related restrictions, provided they have valid work permits.
Charge d' Affaires of the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka, Yahiya Al Karni, told this while talking to the FE on Monday.
"Two weeks ago, we've started a process, so that all the stranded Bangladeshi workers can return to Saudi Arabia to join their work," the Saudi envoy said.
The KSA, the largest employer of the Bangladeshi expatriate workers, has extended the tenure of visa and work permit of the Bangladeshi workers, stranded here.
Of the 11 million Bangladeshi expatriate workers across the world, over 2.2 million are employed in Saudi Arabia.
If necessary, there can be further extension of visa and 'akama' to facilitate return of the Bangladeshi workers to Saudi Arabia, he added.
But responding to a question, the envoy made it clear that if the employer concerned do not agree to renew work permit, or does not issue fresh work permit to any Bangladeshi worker, s/he will not be eligible for visa.
"Everything depends on the sponsors or employers. These are all private companies. If they do not want to employ anyone, we cannot do anything about it," he explained.
A large number of Saudi-bound Bangladeshi workers have been crowding the airlines' offices in the capital and blocking the roads around a posh hotel for the last few days.
When asked about this, the Saudi envoy said, "We now have limited number of flights, to and from Saudi Arabia. We have requested the Bangladesh government to increase the number of flights."
Recently, the number of flights has been increased from four to 20 per week. But Saudi officials here opine that it should be increased more to absorb the pressure.
Commenting on this, a senior official of the foreign ministry said Bangladesh is ready to raise the number of flights in line with the Saudi requirement.
Saudi Embassy was told to send a note verbal, citing their flight requirements. The government's decision is to allocate as much flights as needed to resolve the crisis being faced the Saudi-bound workers, he added.
In last fiscal year, 2019-20, Bangladesh received US$ 18.3 billion as remittance from expatriates, of which the expatriates in Saudi Arabia contributed $ 4.01 billion.
The second biggest contribution was from the UAE with $ 2.47 billion, followed by the US with $ 2.4 billion.
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