130 Bangladeshi workers return from Saudi Arabia

Some 130 Bangladeshi workers returned home from Saudi Arabia last night in the face of crackdown on undocumented workers there.

A flight of Saudi Airlines carrying the workers landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka around 11:30pm, said Shariful Hasan, programme head of Brac Migration Programme.

The authorities concerned of Wage Earners Welfare Board with the help of the Brac Migration Programme provided necessary assistance, including food, to the Bangladeshi workers following their arrival, he said.

The workers who returned home, said hundreds of workers were being arrested in their residents every day and sent to deportation camp.

They have been sent back home despite having valid documents and their employers also did not take any measures even after being contacted over phone, Shariful said quoting the workers.  

Saudi Arabia has been detaining people for residential, labour and border security regulations since November 2017.

With the 130, around 12,000 Bangladeshi workers have so far been sent back home during the current year, the Brac official said.