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About 90 Bangladeshi migrant workers have been facing an uncertain future in Qatar as they were left jobless after the company they worked for stopped paying their wages over five months ago, according to fellow workers who returned home recently.
Each of them spent more than Tk 400,000 on securing jobs in the Gulf country for a two-year contract period, but the Khalij Swan Group Cleaning company made them redundant after 12 months.
Even the company paid much less than the amount promised by the recruiting agencies.
Metco Enterprise (RL -250) and Al Samit International (RL-474), two local recruiting agencies, recruited the workers 19 months ago for the Qatari company.
"Although the manpower recruiting agencies promised us a monthly wage of 1,200 Qatari Riyal, we received only 900 Riyal, including food allowance," said Julfiker, who returned to Dhaka on April 10.
"So I couldn't send any money to my family back home," he said.
According to sector insiders and migrant rights activists, a section of officials were issuing demand notes for overseas jobs in their own interests without proper verification of the company profile. As a result, migrant workers face a lot of suffering abroad.
The rights activists also called for proper investigation into the issue.
Julfiker said the Qatari company stopped paying wages since December, 12 months after the workers joined the company, although the job contract was for a period of two years.
The company even didn't provide them with work permits, he said.
He claimed that the company is basically engaged in visa trading and Bangladeshi workers are its main target.
Julfiker even went to labour court to seek redress for the wrong done to them. The authority then helped him return home. "But I came back home empty-handed as I didn't get the dues," he said.
"Still, 90 Bangladeshi workers are staying in the Gulf country without employment and other basic facilities," said Alam, who returned home last week. As they don't have any work permits, they even cannot move freely.
Not only Bangladeshi workers, but also Nepali and Indian workers are facing the same problem at that company, Alam said.
He said about 200 workers of this company were repatriated in the last five or six months due to lack of employment. More than 70 per cent of them are Bangladeshi workers.
Some of them lodged complaints with the labour court there, he mentioned.
When contacted, Robiul Islam, labour counsellor at Bangladesh Embassy in Qatar, said they received complaints from only 14 workers who were employed by the Khalij Swan Group Cleaning.
"But all workers did not communicate with us," he said.
The labour office also contacted the company to resolve the problem, he said, adding that the company agreed to pay all dues and arrange repatriation of the workers.
If the workers want to work with another company, they will also get this opportunity, as the Qatari labour law is worker-friendly, Robiul said.
"We have also requested the labour ministry of Qatar to stop allowing the company to recruit workers from Bangladesh," he added.
Replying to a query, Robiul said the demand letters issued to these workers were not attested by the embassy. So, there was no opportunity to examine the company profile. However, they now verify all job demand letters, he added.
Robiul also urged the workers to be well informed about their jobs and the recruiting company before flying to Qatar.
Also, the details in the job contract papers have to be confirmed by the manpower recruiting agencies so that the workers can claim their benefits properly, he suggested.
In the absence of any contract papers, workers will not be able to claim wages promised by the employers, he said.
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) secretary general Md Ruhul Amin Swapan said they did not receive any such complaints from the workers.
"If they approach us, we will communicate with the recruiting agencies and take steps to resolve the issue," he said.
He, however, suggested that the workers should communicate with the Bangladesh embassy.
Syed Saiful Haque, chairman of WARBE Development Foundation, questioned why the workers were sent abroad without verification of company profile.
He urged the Bangladesh embassy in Doha to provide all necessary supports to the workers.
As the workers spent a big amount of money on getting jobs, the authorities should also ensure payment of compensation to them, he added.
About 0.4 million Bangladeshis are working in Qatar, mostly in the construction sector.