82 deported Bangladeshis to return to Dubai
The 82 Bangladeshi job seekers denied entry to the UAE this Sunday are being sent to the country again as the gulf state's immigration authorities admitted a 'communication gap'.
Abdul Matin Chowdhury, acting secretary of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry told this to The Daily Star yesterday.
Following the United Arab Emirates (UAE) immigration authority's denial of entry to the Bangladeshis on grounds of presenting fake visas, the Bangladesh mission in Dubai contacted the UAE immigration authorities and was told that a 'communication gap' has led to the incident, said the secretary.
The mission, following the UAE immigration's explanation, has advised the expatriates' welfare ministry in Dhaka to ask the recruiting agencies resend the 82 job seekers to the UAE, he added.
He has already had a meeting with the recruiting agencies and asked them to send the 82 job seekers to the UAE again, Chowdhury said.
Meanwhile, various sources concerned including immigration officials in Bangladesh said denial of entry by the UAE authorities occurs frequently and the issuance of 'photocopy visas' to the job seekers by the country's authorities is the main reason for the misunderstanding. These types of visas also leave room for manipulation of the visas.
Photocopy visa is a copy of a visa that the employer in the UAE sends to Bangladesh for hiring a worker. The photocopy visa is, however, attested by the Bangladesh mission in the UAE. Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) in Bangladesh also issues immigration certificates after verifying the photocopy visas.
Due to the misunderstandings caused by the photocopy visas, returned job seekers have to endure immense sufferings as they have to make two additional trips -- back home to Bangladesh and to the UAE again. All throughout the ordeal, a job seeker's future and investment hangs in the balance while the recruiting agencies count heavy losses in the two additional air tickets for each worker, added the sources.
According to recruiting agencies, once the workers with photocopy visas arrive at the UAE immigration, the immigration officials verify the visas on computer network. The workers are not allowed to enter the UAE if the visas are not found on the immigration computer network.
"Around five to ten Bangladeshis are deported [from UAE] every week," said an immigration official in Dhaka.
But interestingly, after a few days, the same returned workers are sent to the country again with the same visas, he added.
Due to numerous reports of such returns, the immigration police asked the government not to accept photocopy visas when a job seeker departs the country. The proposal was rejected as such a policy might have adverse impacts on the manpower business with the UAE, said sources in the immigration police.
Asked on the proposal of the immigration police, the acting secretary of the expatriates' welfare ministry said, "We cannot rush to take a decision as we have to think of the impacts of a new system. The proposal is, however, under consideration."
According to the manpower businesses, the UAE and Qatar are the two countries in the Middle East that issue photocopy visas for hiring workers from Bangladesh.
According to BMET, since 1976 till December 2006, a total of 6,83,388 Bangladeshi workers have migrated to the UAE.
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