Bangladesh News

Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia now can change their jobs to get better facilities as the Saudi Council of Ministers Monday passed a series of regulations facilitating transfer of jobs of people employed by operation, maintenance, catering and cleaning companies in government departments.

Over 20 lakh Bangladeshis have been working in the oil-rich Gulf country while most of them doing such jobs, sources said.

“The Bangladeshi workers who have left jobs for low salaries or other reasons and even whose job contract period is over now can change their jobs,” an official of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry told The Daily Star yesterday.

In Saudi, job transfer was restricted to the workers and their work permits were not renewed generally for which many Bangladeshis had to either do jobs ‘illegally’ or were forced to return home, But now as they can change jobs, they will not have to face such situation, recruiting agency sources said.

Even earlier workers were subjected to exploitation, as Saudi employers used to retain foreign workers’ passports to prevent them from leaving jobs, but the new regulation on job transfers would help reduce such abuses, experts said.

Since imposing a partial ban on recruiting workers in March last year, many Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia were also not allowed to renew their residency visas after completion of job contract period.

Now under the new rules, workers will be allowed to renew residency visas after job contract period is over and can join other jobs, said Badrul Amin, managing director of recruiting agency– Career Overseas, which has a good business with Saudi Arabia.

After Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s talks with the Saudi king in Riyadh, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday said Bangladeshi workers would be able to transfer their job to join new companies following the regulations.

The Saudi Labor Ministry will transfer the sponsorship of such workers. The state will bear their ‘iqama’ (work permit) and sponsorship transfer fees, leading daily of Saudi Arabia Arab News reported on Tuesday.

The transfer of workers from the previous employer to the new one should be based on their desire and on agreements between them, Saudi Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said while explaining the cabinet decisions.

Manpower business sources said Bangladeshis would be truly benefited by the new decisions as a few lakh Bangladeshi workers are believed to be working illegally, under the employers other than those who officially hired them, either for low salaries or dissatisfaction over their previous jobs.

Experienced workers who are familiar with the culture of that country can now get better salaried jobs, a recruiting agent said.

If the restriction on changing jobs continued, many Bangladeshis will be forced to return home after completion of job, he added.

“When many developed countries are retrenching foreign workers following economic recession, it is a good development for the Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia,” said the expatriates’ welfare ministry official.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is now in Saudi Arabia has requested Saudi government to recruit more workers from Bangladesh but no result is known yet.

Meanwhile, thousands of Bangladeshi workers in Singapore, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates have already become jobless while many are returning home.