The free visa trap: How a false notion is fuelling the deportation of migrants from Saudi Arabia

Shoeb Hossain left Kishoreganj in pursuit of a better life in Saudi Arabia under the "free" visa scheme 10 years ago.

For a while, the move seemed to be paying dividends as Shoeb made a good living from a small shop he ran in Riyadh.

But his world was turned upside down when police sent him to a deportation camp after a raid in October.

A few weeks later, he returned home empty-handed and dispirited.

“I was on the way to my shop when they detained me. I couldn’t even get to my shop. I had goods worth Tk 4 million in the shop but there was nothing I could do to retrieve it. They only handed my phone back,” he told bdnews24.com.

According to the expratiate welfare desk at the Hazrat Shahjalal Internation Airport, Saudi Arabia -- the biggest labour market for Bangladesh -- has deported 20,692 Bangladeshis in the first 10 months of 2019 alone.

And the labour wing of the Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah estimates that on average, 106 expatriates a day have been deported over the last 10 months.

Research organisations working on  migration and expatriate welfare issues believe an economic recession has been driving the Middle-Eastern country's efforts to increase the participation of Saudi nationals in the workforce.

And as part of the initiative, the government, by strictly enforcing its labour law, has recently started deporting migrant workers for flouting rules.

Another reason why Bangladeshi migrant workers are increasingly becoming classed as 'illegal' in Saudi Arabia is their inability to earn back the money spent to get to the Middle East, Shariful Hasan, head of BRAC's Migrant Programme told bdnews24.com.

At the same time, the growing emphasis on 'Saudization', whereby companies and enterprises are required to fill up their workforce with Saudi nationals, is also working to the detriment of migrants.

“They (migrant workers) spend around Tk 700,000 to go overseas for work. But in many instances, they are unable to recoup that amount from their current employment and switch to a different workplace. But the law in Saudi Arabia does not allow one to work for anyone other than a specified employer or kafeel,” Shariful told bdnews24.com.

Free Visa: A Death Trap

Bangladeshi migrant workers have been moving to Saudi Arabia under ‘free visa’ scheme, which allows them to go there without any specific job placement.

There is no legal basis whatsoever for the notion of 'free visas' in Saudi Arabia. But many workers are nevertheless introduced to the idea by relatives or recruiting agencies.

“We want to make it clear that there’s no such thing as a free visa,” Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arab Golam Masih told bdnews24.com.

“It is often seen that a small company in Saudi Arabia without any capacity to employ workers nevertheless takes approval to hire some workers. The workers’ visas are issued under the employer's name. Then the migrant workers take their Iqama (work permit) from that employer and start working elsewhere,” he explained.