Bahrain

Bahrain Lifts Visa Ban On Bangladesh, Dhaka To Implement Strict Rules On Workers 

July 21, 2008 9:11 p.m. EST
Sandeep Singh Grewal - AHN Middle East Correspondent

Manama, Bahrain (AHN) - Bahrain authorities announced on Monday they are lifting a ban on issuing visas to Bangladeshi nationals. The ban was slapped on May 27 after Bahraini Mohammed Jassim Dossary was killed following an altercation with a Bangladeshi mechanic. The mechanic allegedly cut Dossary's throat using an electric grinder.

The Director of Investigations and Follow-up from the General Directorate for Nationality, Passport and Residence here officially released the news to Bangladesh Embassy Charge d'Affaires Saiful Islam and First Secretary Mohamed Ibrahim in a special meeting on Monday.

The current visa ban was only for Bangladeshi workers while residents and their families were not covered under the decision. Visit visas for businessmen and white collar jobs from Bangladesh were also not stopped.

"Visas will be given to our nationals subject to certain conditions such as clean police records and a conduct certificate attested by the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry," Islam told the AHN.

He further said every Bangladeshi worker would undergo checks by the Dhaka authorities, who would issue a clearance for the issue of passports. There have been crucial talks and negotiations between embassy officials and concerned government bodies for the past two months about lifting the ban.

"This move shows the tolerant nature of the Kingdom of Bahrain. We would take all possible steps to inform and ensure our countrymen to conform to the laws of the country. We still need to change the image of the Bangladeshis in the country," Islam said.

The good news for the Bangladeshi community here comes at a time when both the countries - Bahrain and Bangladesh - are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU plan for workers welfare was submitted to the concerned government body, but was put on hold after Dossary's murder.

The visa ban had been condemned by rights groups, which called the action a racist attack against Bangladesh and its citizens. Local human rights group such as the now-defunct Bahrain Centre for Human Rights( BCHR), Bahrain Human Rights Society, Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and the Women Petitions Committee launched a global petition calling on authorities to lift the visa ban on Bangladeshi workers.

Several non-governmental organizations from Bangladesh were signatories of the petition. The petition is also signed by the U.S.-based International Justice Network (IJN) and Solidarity Centre.

The National Democratic Action Society, a leftist political group here, described the visa ban move as tantamount to problems faced by Arabs And Muslims in Europe and the U.S. after a small fanatic Muslim group was behind the 9/11 twin tower attacks in New York and train and bus explosions in Britain and Spain.

Lawmakers here urged the authorities to implement a yearly or quarterly quota for the number of Bangladeshi nationals allowed to work in the country .A similar crackdown decision has also taken place in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which are reportedly deporting Bangladeshi workers.

Two Bangladeshis, Jasmine Anwar Hussain, 23, and Mohammad Hilaluddin, 33, were convicted separately of murders by the High Criminal Court in Bahrain and were executed in 2006. The executions were condemned by human rights groups such as Amnesty International.

In May this year, Mizan Noor Al Rahman Ayoub Miyah, a cook, faced the firing squad for murdering Bahraini fashion designer Sana Al Jalahama in 2006.

Bangladeshis are the second largest foreign community in the Kingdom with about 100,000 nationals.

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