The Bangladeshi embassy here announced new screening measures for recruitment of workers in view of increasing media reports of late implicating Bangladeshi workers in various crimes. Under the new measures, every Bangladeshi recruited to work in Saudi Arabia should undergo an orientation program before arriving in the Kingdom, said Waheedur Rahman, minister and deputy chief of mission at the Bangladeshi Embassy. The Bangladeshi government has taken the step to minimize the chances of Bangladeshi recruits taking to criminals activity unwittingly – without knowledge of the rules and regulations of Saudi Arabia, there's every chance that a low-paid worker would take up well-paying job that could well be part of an illegal operation. Recruitment authorities in Bangladesh have started conducting the orientation program for workers heading for Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, each Bangladeshi worker, before arriving in the Kingdom, would be trained and educated not only about the Saudi rules and regulations but also the local customs. Additionally, they undergo a basic Arabic language course. As an extra precaution, no Bangladeshi worker with even a petty criminal record would be let to work in Saudi Arabia, said Rahman. Citing a report from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rahman said 715 cases of Bangladeshis booked for different types of unlawful activities, including traffic violations, were registered in 2007. He said there is every reason for the Bangladeshi Embassy in Riyadh and its government in Dhaka to believe that report and to act upon it, so as to reduce the unlawful activities by Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia. “In 2008 we want to see a zero crime rate in the Bangladeshi community living in Saudi Arabia,” Rahman said. He said the new measures went operational “two to three weeks ago.” One reason for an increase in unlawful activities by Bangladeshis might be alteration of employment contracts after the workers arrive in the Kingdom. To reduce such malpractices by employers and their agents, the Bangladeshi Embassy is monitoring contracts and not attesting any work visa contracted for below the basic minimum salary of SR400 and other benefits, Rahman said. Unskilled Bangladeshi workers engaged in cleaning jobs have reported that they had to sign new employment contracts on arrival. Rahman said the basic minimum wage agreed upon by the recruitment authorities in the two countries was SR400 plus all other benefits including free accommodation, food, transportation, a free air ticket at a specified time for vacation, and medical coverage. He said some recruiting agents were altering the initially agreed upon employment contract to reduce the basic salary to almost half – SR250 or SR300 – and deprive the workers of other benefits they had signed for in Bangladesh. Bangladeshis pay huge sums of money to recruitment agents in their country before coming to work in Saudi Arabia. The workers consider the amount paid as commission for a job in Saudi Arabia as an investment, which they hope to recover within a time frame calculated as per the original employment deal struck in Bangladesh. Rahman said it is possible that a menial job worker would take to some unlawful activity after not getting the salary agreed upon in the original employment. Following the strict recruitment measures the number of Bangladeshi workers arriving in the Kingdom might drop, he said and added: “However, the recruitment figures will be available only after three months from now.” Rahman said the Bangladeshi government is now also discouraging recruitment of menial job workers. He said the focus has changed to skilled and semi-skilled workers for employment in Saudi Arabia. This is important because educated and skilled workers are more disciplined and would not accept changed employment contracts or deprivation of their labor rights, and thus would not be susceptible to unlawful activities. “The embassy is closely monitoring its nationals and anyone found to have indulged in unlawful activity will be immediately reported to the Saudi authorities for deportation, Rahman said. “The workers' names are blacklisted to stop their reentry into the Kingdom,” he said. At least one such Bangladeshi gang leader, found to have been involved in unlawful activities, was recently deported to Bangladesh, he said. The Bangladeshi government will not hesitate to blacklist erring recruiting agents, who number around 40, he said, adding that one recruiting agent in Bangladesh has already been put on the list. __
