KSA pledges protection for Bangladesh female workers
Our Correspondent
The authorities in Saudi Arabia have given assurance to ensure the protection of Bangladeshi female workers in that country. Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment secretary Md Salim Reza informed about these to the media at Probashi Kalyan Bhaban yesterday. Besides, the Saudi government will also install comprehensive database system for the protection of Bangladeshi women workers with the help of Bangladesh. At the same time, the Bangladesh government has taken steps to amend the policy on sending workers. Reza said these decisions were taken at the third joint technical committee meeting between the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Saudi ministry of labour and social development in Riyadh on November 27.
The meeting decided to launch an IT platform MUSANED to keep records of the female workers addresses, full contact information of Bangladeshi and Saudi recruiting agencies, changed information of recruiters, female workers arrival dates and other related information.
The secretary further said the government will also consider setting up an approval window at the MUSANED system at the Bangladeshi embassy in Saudi Arabia.
The police will not hand over the female workers to their recruiters if they escape, Reza said, adding that the Bangladeshi and Saudi recruiting agencies will take the responsibility of the female workers during their stay in Saudi Arabia.
The recruiting agencies will arrange residential and other facilities for the workers awaiting repatriation, he said.
The agencies concerned will also inform the Bangladeshi embassy and Saudi labour ministry when the work period of female workers comes to an end.
If the workers want to continue work after the expiry of their contracts, they have to renew the deed and that should be approved by the Bangladeshi embassy. The agencies concerned will preserve the updated
information in MUSANED.
If any female worker gets into trouble, the Saudi Department of Protection and Support will bring the issue to the notice of the Saudi authorities. The signing of a general agreement between the Saudi and Bangladeshi labour welfare wings was also discussed at the meeting, the secretary said.
Both the countries also promised to work together for stopping visa business, he added.
Discussions were also held on easing case filing system with the Saudi Labour Court, and Saudi authorities will inform the embassy soon in this regard, Reza said.
In the past four years, over 5,000 Bangladeshi women have returned from Saudi Arabia, bringing allegations of torture against their Saudi employers. As many as 1,500 women came back from Saudi Arabia in 2018, according to the Brac Migration Centre.
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