Quarantine Cost of Ksa-Bound Workers: If vaccinated, Tk 260cr could’ve been saved

Around 40,000 expatriate workers waiting to go to Saudi Arabia in the next one and a half months could have saved almost Tk 260 crore in hotel expenses had the government prioritised inoculating them against Covid-19.

As per the new travel advisory that has been in effect since May 20, a worker has to stay in a hotel for a week upon reaching Saudi Arabia, spending about Tk 65,000, said the leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira).

"The nearly 40,000 workers will be spending a total of Tk 260 crore," Mohammad Faruk, former senior vice president of Baira, told The Daily Star.

Saudi authorities said those who had been inoculated against the coronavirus at least 14 days before reaching Saudi Arabia would not be required to be in quarantine, according to a new travel advisory.

Faruk said the large sums of money would not have gone to Saudi Arabia "had the government heard our repeated calls for prioritising the inoculation of migrant workers all set to join their workplaces in Saudi Arabia".

Overseas recruiting agencies also wrote a letter in this regard to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina several months ago, he said.

"We also sent several letters to the expatriates' welfare minister and met him in person to urge him to include migrant workers among the sections of people prioritised for vaccination," Faruk said.

The government praises the remittance earners for their contribution to the country's economy, but had not ensured vaccines for them in the five months since the inoculation programme was launched in February, he said.

In the last four days, an estimated 1,000 workers who failed to book a hotel in Saudi Arabia had missed their flights to the Gulf nation, more than 30 migrant workers told The Daily Star.

After the new travel advisory came into effect, the workers were booking hotels with the assistance from officials of Saudi Arabian Airlines until May 25 when the officials stopped assisting the workers, leaving many of the workers frustrated and confused.

It was at this point that Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said the government was considering whether to prioritise vaccinating the migrant workers.

The government has decided to assist the workers in booking hotels and considering whether to partly subsidise the expenses.

A top official of the expatriates' welfare ministry said an inter-ministerial meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow to discuss the issue.

Saudi health ministry requires no quarantine for non-residents and first-time visitors who have proof that they spent 14 days after receiving all doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

Fakhrul Islam, former finance secretary and president of the Recruiting Agency Welfare Organisation of Bangladesh, said the main reason behind the crisis facing the workers is the government's utter neglect in vaccinating the expatriate workers on time.

He added that Bahrain also issued a similar travel advisory as Saudi Arabia.

"We heard that several other countries may issue similar travel advisories. If they really do, the migrant workers will have to bear a massive financial burden. We could have saved several hundred crore taka had the workers been vaccinated," he said.

Tipu Sultan, president of the Recruiting Agency Oikya Parishad, said many of the migrant workers' travel abroad will be uncertain if more countries issue a travel advisory like Saudi Arabia had.