Mandatory quarantine pushes up cost of Bangladeshis' migration to Saudi Arabia

Saudi-bound workers will have to count extra money for mandatory quarantine upon reaching their destinations, resulting in the increase in migration cost further, sector insiders said.

According to them,additional Tk 30,000-60,000 will be needed for availing quarantine facilities for each of the workersto Saudi Arabia.

Airlines will take the rent of hotels with ticket fare. So, the cost of tickets will increase further. Currently, the air ticket fare is varying from Tk 70,000 to Tk 80,000 each.

Therefore, the workers will have to spend more than Tk 500,000 each as migration cost. Currently, a worker spends Tk 350,000 to 450,000 to go for jobs in the Arab country, manpower recruiters said.

Saudi Arabia has announced that the travellers from foreign countries will have to follow mandatory 14-day quarantine when they arrive in Saudi Arabia, starting from May 20.

But all travellers, residents and visitors, who have passed 14 days after completing their doses of vaccines approved in Saudi Arabia, do not need to quarantine themselves upon arrival in the kingdom, according to a report of Saudi Gazette, published on Sunday last.

Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB)Secretary General Mazharul H Bhuiyan said they were yet to get any circular from the airlines about the cost of accommodation and other issues.

Manpower recruiters said it wastoo high a charge for a worker - workers would not be interested to travelby paying this charge.

Only those workers, who have an emergency, will travel to Saudi Arabia at this moment, they said.

ManpowerrecruiterAli Haider Chowdhury said they did not want to send workers with such a high migration cost.

If employers bear the cost of quarantine, workers at least get relief from the extra burden of expense, said Mr Chowdhury, also former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).

Arifur Rahman, owner of Oparajita Overseas, said the number of workers to Saudi Arabia would decline for the time being due to the new measure.

Thenew move by the Saudi government will increase the migration cost up to Tk 60,000, said Mr Rahman, also the secretary general of Recruiting Agencies Oikko Porishad - a panel of manpower recruiters.

Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP) Chairman Shakirul Islam, the government could mobilise the cost from its fund as migrants were the vital pillar of the economy.

It also will be good if employers provide the expenditures of quarantine, he added.

Saudi Arabia is a vital market that has hired more than 4.2 million Bangladeshis since 1976.

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