Bangladesh temporary bans its nationals from working in Bahrain

Bangladeshi embassy in Manama has announced a temporary ban of issuing permission for its nationals to work in Bahrain until solving problems facing them in the country, Al Wasat local newspaper reported on Saturday.

The decision was enforced from March 1 because of violations of the rights of Bangladeshis in Bahrain, while the ban will be lifted after reaching an agreement with Bahraini authorities that could safeguards the best interests of workers.

An official from the embassy told the newspaper that the embassy received no less than 50 complaints from Bangladeshis on a daily basis, majority of these cases are related to not receiving salaries on time.

According to the embassy there are 180,000 Bangladeshis working in Bahrain, in which around 50000 are illegal workers. The officials confirmed that there is a huge number of workers who are homeless and sleep on the roads and public utilities.

The ban wasn't the first, as the embassy suspended the permissions in 2015 for the same reasons, while in 2008 the government of Bahrain suspended issuing work permits for Bangladeshis after one of them killed a Bahraini over work dispute.

Bangladeshis are with high demands in the construction sector, because of their capability to work in harsh working environment for low salaries.

source: Xinhua