Expatriate workers who returned to Bangladesh amid the pandemic have started going back to their work with the Qatar government’s recent move of issuing re-entry visas.

Sources say that some 12,000 Bangladeshi workers returned home on vacation just before the coronavirus pandemic spread across the globe.   

The efforts of Bangladesh's government played a significant role behind the recent development, they said.

Jashim Uddin, Bangladesh ambassador to Qatar, said, “We have taken every possible step to ensure the return of the workers to their work. We have repeatedly sat with the foreign and labour ministry officials of Qatar, reviewed the situation together and provided them with a list of our workers who have got stranded in Bangladesh.”

“Now, they are issuing more re-entry visas and about 8,000 stranded Bangladeshi workers have returned to Qatar so far,” he added.

Sources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Embassy of Bangladesh in Doha have said that suspension of the operation of international flights to Qatar to curb the spread of coronavirus till September 7 last year pushed them into uncertainty.

The workers who succeeded to return Qatar have expressed their satisfaction to Daily Sun.

Md Saiful Islam, a stranded worker who returned to Qatar recently, said, “I went to Bangladesh on vacation in December 2019. I had to stay 13 months in the country after being stuck due to coronavirus pandemic. I am very happy as I returned to Qatar on January 22.”

Despite the government’s efforts, some 4000 workers are still struggling to go back to their workplaces in the Middle Eastern country.

Ibrahim Mia, a returnee worker who has been trying to go back to Qatar, said, “Ten months ago I came to Bangladesh on vacation. Since the coronavirus began spreading I repeatedly contacted my employer but didn’t get any response.”

“When I returned home on vacation I had valid visa and residence permit but the validity of my visa and residence permit is expired now. I have submitted all documents twice for a re-entry visa, but couldn’t manage it yet,” he added. 

“Around 80 per cent stranded Bangladeshi workers have returned to Qatar. The workers who are still unable to return should contact with their employers and request them to communicate with Qatar government,” said Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) secretary general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman.

“All the stranded workers would be able to return if their companies had not closed their business. I request them to register with the Bangladesh government,” he added.

According to the Bangladesh Embassy to Doha, Qatar hosts around 4 lakh Bangladeshis, mostly migrant workers. More than 80 per cent of Bangladeshi male workers there are involved in the construction sector.

The Gulf state is a major remittance-generating country for Bangladesh with migrant workers remitting $1.1 billion from Qatar in 2019.

Qatar reopened its labour market for Bangladeshi workers in February 2020 after a closure of several months, just before Covid-19 upended the situation again.