Many Saudi-bound migrant workers were still facing troubles in obtaining air tickets and mandatory Covid-19 test certificates on Saturday.
The stranded workers, desperate to go to their workplaces in Saudi Arabia, continued to throng the offices of the Saudia Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines in the city and waited for a long time to collect tokens, but many of them returned empty-handed, they told the media.
Meanwhile, some 32 workers failed to board the Saudia Airlines flight which departed at 6:25pm on Saturday, as they obtained their Covid-19 test certificates from private hospitals, said an official of the Brac Migration Programme.
One of them is Nur Islam. Although the Saudia Airlines told him that he could have his Covid-19 test done at any hospital, it did not accept the test certificate when he went to collect the boarding passes, his uncle said. On September 15, Saudi Arabia, the largest destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers, allowed the workers to join their workplaces.
Now the workers are ready to fly back to the Gulf country but facing hassles while trying to get tickets and Covid-19 test certificates.
After a period of stress and uncertainty, the first flight of Saudi-bound workers took off on Friday night. But remaining workers are still struggling to get air tickets from Saudia Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Helal Hossain, a migrant worker, said he has return ticket, but he is now worried about whether he would get token from the airlines.
