Saudi-Bound Workers: Uncertainty still hangs over them

The government's decision to vaccinate migrant workers with Sinopharm jabs will not resolve the problem being faced by the Saudi Arabia-bound workers as the vaccine is not yet on the kingdom's priority list, say recruiters.

As per a travel advisory of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, effective from last month, a Bangladeshi passenger travelling to the kingdom requires to be vaccinated with any of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-Astrazeneca, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson vaccines.

Otherwise, the passenger has to undergo a seven-day institutional quarantine there at a cost of up to Tk 80,000. Workers say this is an additional financial burden on them amid the pandemic.

Yesterday, officials of different manpower recruiting agencies, who hire workers on behalf of Saudi employers, urged the government to immediately discuss the matter diplomatically with the Saudi authorities to reach a conclusive solution.

They proposed allocating Pfizer vaccine, now available in the country, for the expatriates.

The officials also suggested importing Johnson and Johnson vaccine for migrant workers since one dose of it will complete the course. They argued that it would save time for both the agencies and migrant workers.

Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary of the expatriates' welfare ministry, said they have already informed the health ministry in writing that Sinopharm vaccine is not among the four approved by Saudi Arabia and some other Middle Eastern countries. So, appropriate vaccines should be administered to Saudi-bound workers whenever they are available, the secretary told The Daily Star.

As per a circular of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued on Thursday, outbound Bangladeshi migrant workers will get shots from today under the government's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccination campaign.

The circular placed "prioritised" migrant workers in the third position on a list of group of people grouped as "targeted population" for the campaign. The prioritised migrant workers are those either approved by or registered under the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), reads the circular.

It says the campaign will start at the dedicated vaccine centres of the country's all government medical college hospitals, and general, district, and 250-beded hospitals.

For Bangladeshi workers, Saudi Arabia is the largest overseas job market. About 30,000 to 40,000 Bangladeshi workers are now arranging their travel to Saudi Arabia with new employment visas, according to Shammilita Shamannay Parishad, a platform of recruiting agencies.

Fakhrul Islam, a member of the platform, yesterday said as Sinopharm vaccine is not on KSA's priority list, vaccinating migrant workers with it will not resolve the existing problem.

The government needs to discuss with Saudi authorities whether they would accept workers who have taken Sinopharm shots, said Fakhrul, also the president of Recruiting Agencies Welfare Organisation of Bangladesh.

He suggested holding the discussion through the diplomatic channel.

Fakhrul said the government can either opt for allocating Pfizer vaccine for Saudi-bound workers or discuss the Chinese vaccine issue with the Saudi government, or allocate money from the wage earners' welfare fund to import Johnson and Johnson jabs for migrant workers.

Another concern is that the current age limit for Covid vaccination in Bangladesh is 40 years and above. But most of the migrant workers are aged below 40, he added.

Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), said the government needs to be more proactive to ensure vaccinating migrant workers.

He said a non-vaccinated worker needs to spend up to $1,000 to be in institutional quarantine in Saudi Arabia. Although the government decided to subsidise the cost by providing Tk 25,000 to each worker against the quarantine fee, the workers would still have to bear an additional financial burden, Shameem added.

M Tipu Sultan, president of Recruiting Agencies Oikya Parishad, said only the Saudi job market remained open for Bangladeshi workers amid the pandemic.

Although the government is trying to resolve the problem facing the Saudi-bound workers, no solution has been found yet, he said.

Tipu said vaccination would likely to be a key issue in sending migrant workers abroad in future.

Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, a top official of Saudi Arabian Airlines said the Saudi authorities have instructed them to exempt those outbound Bangladeshi passengers, who have taken the Covid vaccine of either of the four specific companies, from spending seven days in mandatory quarantine.

"Bangladeshi passengers who have received vaccines of other companies will not be exempted from staying in mandatory quarantine until we get further instructions from the Saudi authorities concerned," the official added. Contacted, BMET Director General Shahidul Alam yesterday said they were trying their level best to support migrant workers not only in vaccination, but also in all other services.