Joint Panel to Address Bangladeshi Labor Issues in Saudi Arabia

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Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News

RIYADH, 25 March 2008 — Labor problems among the Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom will top the agenda of the Saudi-Bangladesh Joint Committee scheduled for April 7-8 in Dhaka. Abdulrahman Albawardi, deputy minister for labor affairs, will lead the 16-member Saudi side. Leading the Bangladeshi team will be Mohammed Aminul Islam Bhuyan, secretary for economic relations.

“The forthcoming meeting will resolve several issues pertaining to the Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom,” said Wahidur Rahman, deputy chief of mission of the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh. He said the Bangladeshi team would be seeking permission from the Saudi side to draw up policy guidelines with the Saudi government regarding the recruitment of Bangladeshi manpower.

“We believe in sending men who are skilled and semi skilled in their respective professions and we like our men to be paid a minimum wage of SR600 per month, not including food and accommodation,” Rahman said, pointing out that this would eradicate the free-visa system, which is common among a section of the Bangladeshi workers.

Rahman also said that the participants at the meeting would also identify the problems faced by the Bangladeshi employee and their employers during their period of work contracts.

“Some of the problems are created due to not paying of wages and harassment,” he said, pointing out that they could be resolved in a friendly manner. Admitting that a fraction of the Bangladeshi population has got into some problems in the Kingdom, leading many to identify Bangladeshis as a specific problem, he said that the rest of the workforce has earned a good name for their loyalty and perseverance.

A spokesman from the Labor Ministry said that the ministry would take up the issue of workers who are coming into the Kingdom on free visas, pilgrims who overstay their Haj and Umrah visas, and upgrading the skills of Bangladeshi workers.

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