Saudi recruits highest from Bangladesh in 34 months
In September, 44,249 Bangladeshis were employed in Saudi Arabia, which had suspended visa issuance for about 1.5 months due to political uncertainties
Overseas employment is back on track after four months, with Saudi Arabia hiring 83,582 Bangladeshis in October, marking the highest job placement to a single country in 34 months.
Around 1.04 lakh Bangladeshis travelled abroad for employment last month, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).
Foreign job placements had been in decline since June this year due to political turmoil surrounding a student-led uprising and the closure of the Malaysian labour market.
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In September, 44,249 Bangladeshis were employed in Saudi Arabia, which had suspended visa issuance for about 1.5 months due to political uncertainties.
However, visa trading and high iqama fees in the oil-rich country have become major concerns for Bangladeshi labour migration stakeholders, as migrant workers are increasingly facing early returns home.
"Many mega projects have been initiated in Saudi Arabia, which has created a demand for labour, and visa trading is going on taking advantage of this," Reaz-ul-Islam, immediate past senior vice president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told The Business Standard.
"Fake demand letters are often issued for visa trading, resulting in more people going than necessary. And everyone is not getting work," he added.
Saudi Arabia led global construction activity in the first quarter, with a $1.5 trillion pipeline of unawarded projects, according to data analysed by JLL, a real estate services company.
The latest report from the company reveals that the Kingdom accounted for a 39% share of the total construction projects in the Middle East and North Africa region, valued at $3.9 trillion, as reported by Arab News in June this year.
Within the Kingdom's pipeline, the construction assets sector represented 62%, or $950 billion, of the overall projects, while transportation, infrastructure, and other utilities accounted for 38%, or $582 billion, as noted by JLL, citing insights gathered from MEED Projects.
Saudi Arabia is the largest destination for Bangladeshi workers, employing around 3 million, mostly in the construction and service sectors as cleaners and housemaids, according to BMET.
Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former Secretary General of Baira, told TBS, "There is a kind of instability in the entire labour market due to the high iqama fee, even though there is enough work. This issue needs to be resolved quickly by reducing the iqama fee."
Every day, between 350 and 400 migrant workers return to Bangladesh, many of them facing a difficult reality. Of the returnees, 70% come from Saudi Arabia, the largest destination for Bangladeshi workers, driven home by the skyrocketing cost of work permits, according to the Brac Migration Program.
Known as the iqama fee, it now stands at an eye-watering 11,000 Saudi riyals per year – more than the annual income of many employed in domestic work, construction, or cleaning.
"Employers struggle to pay such large sums, especially for 100 or 1,000 workers at a time," said Noman Chowdhury. He further stated that this situation has worsened over the past year and a half, with 60-70% of foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, now lacking valid iqamas.
The Baira leader has written to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, urging him to leverage his international stature to persuade Saudi authorities to reconsider the iqama fees.
After Saudi Arabia, Qatar recruited the second-highest number of workers at 6,507, followed by Singapore, Kuwait, and Jordan.
Remittance inflows to Bangladesh reached $2.39 billion in October, marking a significant 21.32% year-on-year increase from $1.97 billion last year, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
This rise follows a trend seen over recent months, with remittances in September hitting a similar figure of $2.4 billion.
Though the price of the dollar in the remittance market has slightly declined in the past two weeks, it has not significantly impacted inflows.
Stakeholders attribute this to the confidence remitters have in the current government, as they observe a noticeable decrease in capital flight from the country.
