Saudi authorities have released 13 Bangladeshis out of 17 initially
detained during a nationwide raid on illegal workers beginning on
Monday.
They were released after they were able to furnish legal documents,
Bangladesh Labour Counsellor in Riyadh Md Emdadul Hoque told
journalists.
Minutes ago, Md Shahidul Islam had told journalists that the Saudi
government had arrested a total of 21 Bangladeshis in the four
day-raid.
Four of them were later freed when they were found to possess legal
documents, he said.
The Saudi government has so far arrested 20,000 undocumented workers,
the Bangladesh ambassador to Saudi Arabia said.
The government began the crackdown after a seven-month amnesty that
lasted till till Nov 3.
According to Reuters news agency, the remittances sent home by
expatriates in Saudi Arabia are often vital for their own nations,
which include Yemen, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India,
Pakistan and Egypt.
The Saudi government hopes that reducing the number of illegal workers
will create opportunities for Saudi job-seekers.
The official Saudi unemployment rate is 12 percent but excludes a
large number of citizens who say they are not seeking a job.
However, the majority of the kingdom’s nine million foreigners are
unskilled labourers or domestic workers, jobs usually shunned by
Saudis, adds Reuters._bdnews24.com
