The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) embassy in Dhaka has taken a new move to 'select' a number of local recruiting agencies to submit visas to the embassy for hiring manpower from Bangladesh, said sources concerned.
Under the new 'Drop Box' system, all the manpower recruiters here will have to go through a certain number of agencies for getting all the visa-related services from the Saudi embassy, they also said.
Some manpower recruiters told the FE that the embassy has already started selection process under the system, and so far 20-25 recruiters have qualified for it.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) and a number of manpower recruiters have expressed grave concern over the move.
They said the new system may create a syndicate in sending workers to KSA.
Besides, large-scale irregularities may take place in the agency selection process by a section of embassy officials, they also claimed.
Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former joint secretary general of BAIRA, said they have already communicated with the Saudi embassy and expressed their concern over the possibility of forming a syndicate following the move.
"We've also proposed the embassy to give authorisation to BAIRA in providing the visa-related services to all recruiting agencies. If BAIRA is involved in the service delivery system of the Saudi-bound workers, there is no possibility of syndication."
He also said Saudi embassy officials told BAIRA that they have taken the new move (of selecting some agencies) to ease hassles.
A recruiting agency owner also told the FE that the embassy has already selected some agencies.
He also claimed that only the influential recruiters are being selected by the embassy to qualify for the system.
If any syndication is formed, other agencies will not get any chance to send workers to KSA, and migration cost will also increase further, he added.
But Ali Haider Chowdhury, former secretary general of BAIRA, said it is not possible to create any syndicate or do monopoly business in sending Bangladeshi workers to Saudi Arabia.
The nature of Saudi labour market will not permit any monopoly, he added.
At present, more than 1,000 local manpower recruiters are enlisted with BAIRA. All of them are permitted to send workers to Saudi Arabia, and can submit the visas for their workers directly to the embassy.
When contacted, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Director General Salim Reza said he is not informed about any such initiative of the Saudi embassy.
Currently more than 1.5 million Bangladeshis are working in Saudi Arabia in different sectors. Bangladesh received the highest amount of remittance from Saudi Arabia.
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