As many as 389 Bangladesh nationals have been deported from Saudi Arabia amid a crackdown on undocumented workers in the Middle Eastern country, according to media reports. In the latest wave of returnees, a total of 160 workers were sent back on Tuesday. A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight carrying the workers landed at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) around 1120pm on Tuesday, said airport officials.
They said including Tuesday’s deportees, the oil-rich country has sent back 389 workers in the last three days. “On Sunday, some 175 Bangladeshi workers were sent back,” they added. Hundreds of workers are being arrested by the Saudi government every day as over 1000 Bangladeshis are now there at Riyadh Deportation Camp, according to the Bangladeshis who had been sent back.
They claim that they were deported despite having valid documents before adding that the Bangladesh embassy did not take any measures. Saudi Arabia is the largest manpower export destination for Bangladesh with nearly one-fourth of its expatriate workforce working in the oil-rich kingdom.
The Middle Eastern country has arrested around 3.8 million foreigners as it continues its crackdown on labour and residency violators, according to a recent report by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). It has been detaining people for residential, labour and border security regulations since November 2017.
A total of 3,790,173 people have been arrested, including over 2.95 million for residency violations, 583,602 for breaking labour laws and 247,220 for flouting border regulations, the report said. The latest figures indicate that 544,521 people have been arrested since early June. The report also stated that 940,100 expatriates have been deported to their respective countries since November 2017.
