Saudi Arabia has stopped issuing visas to recruit domestic helpers and agricultural workers from Bangladesh, said Waheedur Rahman, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission at Bangladeshi Embassy in Riyadh. While Bangladeshi workers in other job categories are continuing to arrive in the Kingdom, those already here – including doctors and nurses – are uncertain about staying on much longer, he added. “Starting April 2008, no domestic helpers including house maids, drivers and agriculture labor were being recruited to work in Saudi Arabia, although no official notification was given by Labor Ministry to the Embassy in this regard,” Rahman said. Around 8,000 Bangladeshi housemaids had arrived before April 2008 at an average rate of 300 arrivals a month, he said. The decision to stop recruiting Bangladeshi farm workers could be because the Kingdom is seeking to be self sufficient in that sector, he said. The minister said that Bangladeshi expatriates in the Kingdom are facing problems such as Saudi refusal to transfer sponsorship and the Immigration department's refusal to extend the Iqama (residence) permit of Bangladeshi children who turn 18 while living here with their parents. “When the parents apply for (Iqama), renewal the authorities give an exit-only visa,” he said, adding that several families have had to send their children, particularly daughters, back to Bangladesh. “The Embassy receives several calls everyday from our workers about the refusal of sponsorship transfer even in professional job categories such as doctors and nurses,” he added. Some hundreds and thousands of Bangladeshi workers have been refused sponsorship transfer, he said, adding that the Embassy has taken up the matter with Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was waiting for a response. One recruiting agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Bangladeshis were being singled out since “sponsorship transfer of other nationalities is continuing as usual.” A huge number of Bangladeshi schoolchildren, who are about to turn 18 risk deportation, the agent said. “This is a big problem facing Bangladeshi families living in the Kingdom,” especially those working as doctors, engineers and accountants. The Saudi immigration rule states that an expatriate child who turns 18 may stay in the Kingdom on a separate iqama but under the sponsorship of his/her parent. Negative media coverage about Bangladeshis involved in criminal activities could be reason why all Bangladeshi nationals living in Saudi Arabia are in this fix, the agent said. __
