HUNDREDS of Bangladeshi residents stranded abroad have appealed for an exemption to renew their visas, which expired during the travel ban imposed due to the pandemic two years ago.
Around 20,000 Bangladeshis have legalised their status and renewed their permits in Bahrain in the last two years, however, around 900 people are still stuck abroad ... hoping to return.
Details were revealed to the GDN by Bangladeshi Ambassador Dr Mohammed Nazrul Islam.
According to official statistics released six months ago, around 155,000 Bangladeshi nationals reside in Bahrain, forming the second largest expatriate community in the kingdom.
“Our community has coped with the Covid-19 situation very well and although around 4,000 Bangladeshis opted to return home, many have remained in Bahrain and continued their jobs,” Dr Islam told the GDN.
“We don’t have the exact number of Bangaldeshis deported in the last six months, however, we have issued around 1,000 travel passes for those who don’t have a valid passport, after collaborating with relevant authorities.”
The diplomat explained that those who returned home were not all deportees – adding that some Bangladeshi workers had voluntarily left as they lost their jobs or were facing other challenges.
“There are around 900 Bangladeshis who went for holidays during the initial months of the pandemic, but couldn’t return due to the travel ban imposed from March to June 2020,” he said.
“Their visas expired while they were abroad and their sponsors want them back.
“However, there is no option to renew expired visas while abroad and from what we know, authorities have stopped issuing new visas to Bangladeshis,” the diplomat added.
He stressed the importance of seeking solutions for those residents and creating a mechanism that facilitates their ‘humanitarian return’.
The GDN previously reported that 900 criminal violations were detected by labour inspectors, with hundreds of illegal workers arrested last year. It follows 10,000 inspection visits by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) and 100 joint campaigns with other ministries and government bodies.
Eight forced labour cases were referred to the relevant authorities and 13 establishments were found operating unlicensed domestic labour.
LMRA chief executive Jamal Al Alawi had earlier said that 41 inspection campaigns were held jointly with the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs, which resulted in the arrest of hundreds of illegal workers.
Meanwhile, 66 inspection campaigns were jointly launched with other government authorities, while a joint campaign with the Interior Ministry uncovered 13 unlicensed establishments which offered domestic workers illegally for pay-by-the-hour services.
“I requested LMRA to consider lowering the Flexi-visa rate because most of the undocumented Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain are without a sponsor,” the diplomat said.
“Therefore, they are unregistered and the current rate for a Flexi-permit is around BD400 and most of these workers cannot afford that.
“Every person should legalise their status as well as find suitable jobs and the embassy is happy to assist them.
“We also request the host country for some amnesty or incentives for those who are illegal in order to legalise their status.”
Mr Islam added that during the pandemic, 98 Bangladeshi residents had died from Covid-19 while thousands have tested positive in Bahrain since 2020.
He expressed gratitude to the leadership for the extraordinary measures that the government of Bahrain has taken to combat the spread of Covid-19.
reem@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))