Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment secretary Md Salim Reza on Monday said authorities in Saudi Arabia have assured that they will take necessary steps to ensure the safety of Bangladeshi female workers in their country. He came up with the remark while speaking at a press briefing at Probashi Kallyan Bhaban in the capital.
Reza said the third joint technical committee meeting was held between the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and Saudi Ministry of Labour and Social Development on November 27 in Riyadh. At the meeting, we have urged the Saudi authorities to investigate the incidents of female migrant workers who are at safe homes in Saudi Arabia, the secretary said.
Selim Reza said, “Saudi authority and we have decided to take some steps from our respective positions. We have revised the existing policies. We will bring a remarkable change in the recruitment system. We will do it soon and Saudi authority will also reform their system so that the process becomes more compatible.”
The secretary also said that the women workers are facing different kinds of problems. Some of them were made victims of abuse by the house owners while some of them were deprived of sufficient food, he added. “Currently, there are 146 female migrant workers at different safe homes in Saudi Arabia,” he said adding that 34 more female workers are now at deportation centres.
In the last four years, over 5,000 Bangladeshi women have returned home from Saudi Arabia, bringing allegations of torture against their Saudi employers. Some 1,500 women have returned home from Saudi Arabia in 2018 alone, according to Brac Migration Centre. Shariful Islam Hasan, programme head of Brac Migration Programme said that, 53 female workers died in Saudi Arabia this year till October while in the last four years, 153 female workers died in this Gulf state.
In reference to the Bangladesh Embassy, Islam Hasan said that 98 of the deceased committed suicide. The issue of the female migrant workers came into light as a Bangladeshi female migrant worker in Saudi Arabia has been rescued recently by local police after a video clip of her seeking help to escape torture went viral.