Remittance flow from Gulf states may face setback

FE Team | Published: October 28, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Bangladesh's remittance earning from manpower export to six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states might face a serious blow if Bahrain's proposal for a 6-year residency cap on all expatriates working in the Gulf is approved next month.
Plans that could see millions of people forced out of the Gulf under a six-year residency limit for expatriate workers took a step closer last Monday when the UAE said the Emirates will back the proposal at a meeting of GCC labour ministers to be held in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, next month, said a report of Arab News Saturday.
Earlier, Bahrain decided to submit the proposal during the next GCC summit scheduled for December this year
In arguing the case for this radical move, the Bahraini labour minister pointed out that the majority of foreign workers in the region come from cultural and social backgrounds that cannot assimilate or adapt to the local cultures.
With over 14 million expatriates in the region, the UAE Labour Minister Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi said the issue would be on top of the agenda. The UAE, he said, shared Bahrain's concern on this issue.
"In some areas of the Gulf, you can't tell whether you are in an Arab Muslim country or in an Asian district. We can't call this diversity and no nation on earth could accept the erosion of its culture on its own land," he said. He added that he was "optimistic" the proposal would be approved at the summit.
Although the six countries that make up the GCC - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait - are heavily dependent on foreign workers for everything from manual labour to company executives, there is growing concern over unemployment among the locals.
A study by Sharjah University last year found 32.6 per cent of men and 47.7 per cent of women in the UAE unemployed and seeking work.
According to AFP statistics, there are around 35 million people living in the GCC, of whom 40 per cent are foreign workers. Expatriates account for around 80-90 per cent of the population in Qatar and the UAE, while in Kuwait it is roughly 60 per cent and in Bahrain it is about 40 per cent, according to statistics compiled by Human Rights Watch.
Saudi Arabia, which accounts for around 75 per cent of the total GCC population, has a third of its jobs held by a foreign work force, while a quarter of Omani jobs are currently held by foreigners.
In an effort to deal with this rising level of unemployment among its own nationals, countries in the Gulf may be excused for contemplating such a drastic move.
However, state-run programs and educational institutions must also be reviewed to equip the unemployed nationals so that they can take over the jobs now being handled by foreigners. Cutting back personal benefits to unemployed UAE nationals who refuse help to get back to work should also be considered. This is the only way to motivate them to work harder and longer.
While the Bahraini labour minister later backtracked to explain that his proposal would only cover the semi-skilled and unskilled group of expatriates now working in the Gulf, it is a no-brainer that with a booming population in the region and growing unemployment, even the skilled foreign workers will be hit if the Bahraini proposal is accepted.
That would send a message to the 14 million or so expatriates currently living in the GCC that it is time now to consider other options.
For some, such a scenario may be too painful to bear as they have brought up their families here and have made it their home.
However, according to Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, statistics there are over 2.0 million Bangladeshis working in the six GCC states.