KSA flight halt 'major blow' to hiring from BD

The country's overseas employment sector, which is considered the strongest pillar of the economy, is set to almost collapse with a suspension of all international flights by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to contain the spread of coronavirus, insiders have said.

The KSA is the largest recruiter of Bangladeshi workers that hires more than 70 percent of Bangladesh's overall migrant workers currently.

The decision on flight suspension, which comes into effect from today (Sunday), came at a time when other key overseas markets like Qatar and Kuwait already shut their territories to international passengers due to the quick spread of the deadly viral disease.

Manpower agencies termed the recent development in the KSA as a major setback for the business. It completely stopped the process of sending more workers, posing a serious threat to the economy, they said.

At least 50,000 to 60,000 visas for Saudi-bound workers are in the process in the country now. But the air travel restriction for two weeks stopped all the proceedings, Ali Haider Chowdhury, director of East-West Human Resource Center Ltd, said.

"I don't know what will happen to us and the economy if the restriction prolongs further. We're on the verge of counting heavy losses," he said.

Mr. Chowdhury, also former secretary-general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said they were trying to send the workers as early as possible as they could guess that such an embargo would be imposed on air travels.

But they could not do it as the airfares were higher. Airlines charged a Saudi-bound worker about Tk 45,000 against Tk 33000 earlier.

"I have 100 visas in the process for sending workers to the KSA," he said adding that like him, many of the manpower recruiters would face the same problem.

Besides, workers will also face trouble as many of them have already spent money to complete the procedure for going to the country.

He also said the outflow of workers to other manpower markets in the Middle East remained stagnant due to different types of restrictions including higher airfare.

When contacted, Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, secretary-general of BAIRA, said the workers who will fail to go abroad, will be able to go there when the situation improves.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed them a message that the duration of visas and work permit would be extended if it is expired, he said.

Mr. Nomans aid is a global crisis, so at this moment they have no option other than waiting and observing the situation.

He also requested the authorities concerned to take effective measures to prevent the coronavirus outbreak as it can deal a further blow to the migration sector.

The BAIRA secretary said such suspension will not affect the country's inward remittance as workers are not returning from the Middle East countries.

Bangladeshis send the highest amount of remittance from Saudi Arabia. About 2.0 million Bangladeshis are currently working in the oil-rich country, officials said.