Kuwait won't renew residency visas
Mannan of Magura bursts into tears at Zia International Airport yesterday as he was deported from Kuwait empty-handed. He had borrowed money to go to Kuwait. Photo: STAR
Kuwait has decided not to renew residency visas of Bangladeshis doing menial jobs, saying these workers are a threat to state security and bring unnecessary international focus on the country, reports the Kuwait Times.
The Gulf state that faced strong demonstrations by Asians, mainly Bangladeshi cleaning workers, demanding better wages, is also considering raising minimum wage to Kuwaiti dinar 40.
Meanwhile, at least 160 Bangladeshi workers who allegedly instigated and took part in strikes in Kuwait in the last few days arrived in Dhaka yesterday, immigration police said. With the latest arrival, the number of deportees in two days now stands at 217, said an official of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.
The Kuwait Times reports that the Kuwaiti government has decided not to renew residency visas of Bangladeshis to cut the number of marginal workers, especially those who fall victim to negative practices by companies or visa traders. However, the country will renew residency visas of Bangladeshis doing specialised jobs.
Quoting high-ranking official sources, the daily says the government is determined to solve the problems through strict legal action and reduce workers' numbers in the country.
Presently, around 2 lakh Bangladeshis are estimated to live in Kuwait, which stopped hiring workers in late 2006. The nation now hires workers only for selective companies.
Asked about implication of Kuwait's new decision, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Abdul Matin Chowdhury said implementation of the decision does not mean a stop to hiring workers. Kuwait now prefers hiring skilled workers, he added.
The Kuwait government has reached an agreement with the Asian workers on Monday to end a three-day strike over pay and working conditions against the backdrop of soaring inflation, which exceeded 11 percent in April and May.
The government, meanwhile, arrested around 1,000 Bangladeshis on charges of taking part in the strike and will deport them if found responsible for the strike, Kuwait authorities told Bangladesh Embassy on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour is currently negotiating wage rises for the workers with the companies involved, as well as insisting on back payment of their unpaid salaries and improvements to their miserable living conditions, in order to avoid future recurrence of such protests.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior's preliminary interviews revealed Kuwaiti citizens, Egyptian expatriates and Bangladeshi community leaders were among those involved in organising the riots.
The trade unions of the country yesterday urged Kuwait Trade Unions Federation to extend a helping hand to Bangladeshi workers facing repression in Kuwait and deportation.
In an email letter Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal President Nazrul Islam Khan and Jatiya Sramik League General Secretary Roy Ramesh Chandra said they hope trade union movement in Kuwait would negotiate with the authorities to create a scope so that Bangladeshi workers can continue with their jobs.
They also urged the Kuwait trade union movement for initiatives to take back to work the workers who were deported for misreporting.
Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) at a press release said movement by workers in demand of pay hike is their fundamental human rights. If anybody does something violent, there is legal procedure for them, but beating them up and deporting them is not maintaining the law, it said.
Bangladesh government's move on the migrant workers' issue reflects its "bowing-down" policy, it said, urging the government to consider it with top priority and ensure Bangladeshi workers' rights abroad.
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