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SENDING WORKERS TO KSA

BAIRA demands reinstating previous system

They also focus on ending syndicate for Malaysian labour market


FE REPORT | March 12, 2025 00:00:00


Recruiters on Tuesday demanded reinstatement of the previous rules, relaxing attestation from the Bangladeshi authorities, in sending workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) amid a sharp fall in manpower export to the top destination.

Members of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) placed the demand during a meeting with Expatriates' Welfare and Law Adviser Asif Nazrul.

The BAIRA members also demanded ending syndicate, formed during the previous regime by the then government's close allies, to send workers to Malaysia. They said no syndicate should be allowed in the Malaysian labour market.

"We urge the government to open the market for all legitimate recruiting agencies to facilitate deployment of workers at a low cost," BAIRA senior member Khandaker Abu Ashfaq told reporters after the meeting.

According to the BAIRA officials, they are scheduled to hold another meeting today (Wednesday) with the embassy officials and other government agencies concerned.

Ashfaq said the majority of the Saudi-bound workers go to the country under single visa without mandatory attestation from the Bangladesh Embassy for single-visa holders. But the new mandatory attestation has created a negative impact on the migrant sending flow.

"Processing single worker's registration is lengthy. It takes much time, slowing down the overall process. So, we demand reinstatement of the previous system - single visa without mandatory attestation, in which we can process 24 registrations in one chunk," he added.

Mohammad Fakhrul Islam, former joint secretary general of BAIRA, echoing the same demand, said it was a popular system and continued for a long time. But, the new system has already impacted the migration tendency, reducing manpower export.

Bangladesh issues visas to the KSA-bound workers in two categories: single visa, and group visa. As many as one to 24 workers can go abroad in single visa, while in case of group visa more than 25 workers can go to the same company, requiring embassy attestation.

The attestation from the Bangladeshi authority was relaxed for the single-visa holders, but due to allegations that the workers were not getting promised jobs after going to the destination countries, the BMET changed it in late January.

According to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), the country's labour export dropped by over 36 per cent in this February compared to January. Manpower export to the KSA declined by more than 42 per cent.

Sector insiders and recruiters attributed the fall to mandatory attestation from the Bangladeshi mission authorities for the single-visa holders.

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