Migrants Heading to Oman, Kuwait: 25,000 heave sigh of relief
Uncertainty over the return of around 25,000 Bangladeshi expatriates to work in Oman and Kuwait is over as Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh has lifted its restriction on travel to Oman, and Kuwait is allowing domestic workers to fly to that country.
Issuing a circular on Tuesday, the CAAB said the decision on lifting the travel restriction will come into force on June 4.
According to manpower recruiting agencies and former leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), around 22,000 to 25,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers, who have been stuck at home for the last one and a half months, will now be able to return to work in the two Gulf countries.
Oman in late April and Kuwait in early May imposed ban on entry of Bangladeshis and citizens of several other countries after the second wave of Covid-19 hit Bangladesh.
Later, Bangladesh also imposed ban on travelling to Oman.
The CAAB's latest travel advisory contained a fresh list of 11 countries (Group A) from where no one will be allowed to travel to Bangladesh. The countries are: Argentina, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, India, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nepal, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.
No Bangladeshi is also allowed to travel to these countries either.
Bangladeshi expatriates/citizens who visited (not residing) the 11 countries within 15 days before the date of travel to Bangladesh are allowed to travel to/from Dhaka provided they have the special approval/authorisation from the competent authorities of Bangladesh.
On arrival, the passengers will complete a mandatory 14-day institutional quarantine at government designated hotels on their own expenses, says the CAAB circular.
Names of Columbia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Mongolia, Oman, South Africa and Tunisia have been dropped from the Group A list. None from these countries was allowed to travel to Bangladesh since May 1.
The CAAB also said passengers from eight countries (Group B) -- Belgium, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Greece, Kuwait and Oman -- are permitted to travel to Dhaka.
However, the passengers on arrival will have to complete a mandatory 14-day institutional quarantine at government designated hotels on their own expenses.
There is no restriction on the passengers bound for these eight countries.
As an exception, passengers from Kuwait and Oman shall have to complete a mandatory three-day institutional quarantine in Bangladesh at government designated hotels on their own expenses.
Upon completion of the institutional quarantine, medical tests will be performed. The passenger will be allowed to go home to complete 11-day home quarantine if the medical test result is satisfactory.
In case of an unsatisfactory medical test result, the passenger will have to go for isolation at government designated facilities on his own expenses or continue the institutional quarantine, CAAB said in its circular.
There will be no restriction on outbound passengers' travel to Group B countries.
The CAAB said passengers to and from all countries except from those in Group A and B are allowed to travel between the respective countries. In that case, inbound passengers will have to complete 14-day strict home quarantine.
However, if any passenger shows Covid-19 symptoms on arrival to Bangladesh, he/she shall be sent to a government designated hospital for further checkup or depending on the nature/intensity of the symptoms, the passenger will be sent to isolation at government designated facilities or hotels to stay there on his own expenses.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Fakhrul Islam, president of Recruiting Agencies Welfare Organisation of Bangladesh, said lifting ban on travelling to Oman and Kuwait is certainly a good news for about 25,000 Bangladeshi workers, who are stuck in the country for over a month.
"We hope the government will make necessary arrangements so that the migrant workers can return to work in those countries without suffering," he added.
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