Saudi Arabia to lift 7-year ban

Saudi Arabia will lift a seven-year ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers is undoubtedly good news for Bangladesh and for thousands of aspiring overseas job-seekers. It is even more encouraging that the Saudi government has pledged to bring down the cost of recruiting Bangladeshi workers to the kingdom dramatically and allow private companies to hire Bangladesh nationals.

Saudi Arabia, which remains the largest manpower market for Bangladesh, recruited about 150,000 Bangladeshis each year until 2008. But following the ban, allegedly for malpractices in the recruitment system, the annual average of recruitments came down to around 10,000. With the lifting of ban, new and hopefully improved opportunities will be created for intending migrants. It has been stated that both the Bangladeshi and Saudi governments would work together to build the capacities and skills of Bangladeshi workers and equip them with relevant knowledge of labour laws and work culture of Saudi Arabia. This, if implemented, would certainly make our workers more competitive in the Saudi market, enable them to take better-paying skilled jobs and reduce the likelihood of being exploited by their employers.  

Last year in February, in another welcome move, the Saudi government declared that it would allow Bangladeshi workers who did not get their iqama renewed to shift sponsorship to another employer without previous employer's approval.

We congratulate both the governments for their commitments. As we work together to facilitate a cost-effective and transparent recruitment process, we should also attempt to further streamline practices which tended to limit workers' flexibility and impinge on their rights.