http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/04/08/news0902.htm
Nation, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Bangladesh image at stake in Saudi Arabia
Dr. Abdul Momen
It is now an established fact that the Bangladeshi Community living in
Saudi Arabia has lost its image during the last 2-3 years. The image
of Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia (KSA) was relatively very high ever
since they started to come here in late seventies. When I landed in
this holy land in early years, I found in the Saudi Society a sense of
sympathy and respect towards all Bangladeshis. They used to consider
Bangladeshis as obedient, diligent, hard working, sincere and honest.
Their common expression towards Bangladeshi expatriates was-"kullu
Bangali koyes"- all Bengalis are good souls. Tariq Al-Maeena, a
reputed Arab News columnist once wrote that if you would like to get
your automobile fixed at dead of night, just knock the door of a
Bangali repair shop, they would do it even at odd hours and with a
smile. Now in 2008, the picture is diametrically opposite. Saudis now
consider Bangladeshis to be "Katir Mushkila"- -great problem. Some
have gone to the extent that "all Bangalees" should be expelled en-
masse. How could this happen? How could a whole community lose its
image so rapidly? If one delves into the issue deeply, he would find
three major causes: 1. Large scale media campaign against the
Bangladeshi Community that incited hatred in Saudi Society against the
Bangladeshis. 2. Misdeeds committed by a section of Bangladeshi
nationals that triggered above hate campaign in the Saudi media, and
3. Role played by some unscrupulous Recruiting Agencies and officials.
Media Campaign From 2007, stories on crimes and misdeeds committed by
Bangladeshi nationals started to flood the newspaper pages, both
English and Arabic. Last month (February 2008), popular Radio Channels
like MBC-FM and Panorama-FM aired lengthy programs featuring misdeeds
committed by Bangladeshis.
People interviewed in the program overwhelmingly expressed their
disgust over the Bengali folks and opined for ouster of them as soon
as possible. There were few who logically opined that a whole
community should not be blamed for crimes committed by a few, but
their voice was very dim as compared to overwhelming majority. Along
with leading Arabic dailies, widely circulated English daily the Arab
News also took the scope. It went on publishing series of horror
reports focusing on "Bengali Crimes" one after another. One of such
reports, compiled by Ms. Razan Baker, goes as follows: "Kuwait
instituted a ban on Bangladeshi recruitment last year, citing crime
committed by them. "We look forward to the day when we get to
celebrate the departure of the last Bangladeshi here similar to what
happened in Kuwait," said Khalid Ibrahim, a Saudi teacher. "We could
then say with a big relief goodbye to pornography and alcohol, to our
maid stealers, to the rapists of our children, to the counterfeiters
of governmental documents," said another 40-year-old Saudi government
employees. (Arab News, 19 Feb 2008). If one carefully scrutinizes the
above report, he could easily detect how cunningly and purposely the
reporter had tried to malign Bangladeshis! She quotes a previous
incidence of Kuwait occurred more than a year ago where some
Bangladeshi laborers went on strike for non-payment of their salaries,
and links it with Saudi situation to get rid of the last Bangladeshi
from Saudi soil. The reader would get an impression as if Kuwait had
got rid of the last Bangladeshi; so Saudi should also follow the suit.
Fact of the matter is; Kuwait did not throw them out and in fact,
there are more Bangladeshis working now then previous years in Kuwait.
Does it not seem like a hate and malicious campaign against
Bangladeshis?
Let us now check other points of the report one by one. Rapes- It was
reported that some Bangladeshi youths had recently raped a Saudi minor
girl in Al-Jubail. Rape is an ugly crime hated by all civilized people
and is not bound to a particular nation. Last year, there had been a
report in the Arab News that a Pakistani father raped his daughter
Zarna who had to take shelter with Human Rights Commission of KSA.
This was just an isolated incidence; no way has it proved that all
Pakistanis are rapists. There had been a report in the Arab News on
May 15, 2005 that 32 cases of incest had occurred in Saudi Arabia in
2004 according to the Social Service Department Record. These are also
isolated incidences committed by perverted people who are found in
almost all societies. Other than an imbecile, nobody would argue that
this report of the Arab News had proved that all Saudis are rapists.
Almost 2 million Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia. The Al-Jubail
incidence was the 1st occurrence of rape committed by a Bangladeshi
national so far reported by Saudi news media. Question is; is it fair
to label all Bangladeshis as rapists for a single incidence and call
for ouster of all of them? Alcohol- Liquor of any kind is strictly
forbidden in Bangladesh as against India where pubs are abundant not
only in cities but also in rural areas. Drunkards are despised in
strictly conservative Bangladeshi society. You will not find even one
in a million who has ever seen this material physically. Even in the
metropolitan Dhaka city, other than a limited number of bars mainly
meant for foreigners, you won't see much of them. Moreover,
Bangladeshi Muslim is forbidden to drink it. It is difficult to fathom
as to how the reporter blames Bangladeshi expatriates in KSA as
alcoholic or dealers of Alcohol en-masse. More so after coming to the
holy land whereas affluent communities like Indians or Filipinos
remain far away from this vice although they hail from societies where
alcohol is culturally admitted! It sounds not only factually untrue
but malicious as well. Narcotics- Afghanistan and adjoining areas are
globally known and considered to be the breeding ground of narcotics.
There must be rich and big guys behind drug trafficking to the Middle
East, not poor Bangladeshi cleaners and tea boys that earn around SR
300 ($80) a month and hardly get any free time to do drug business.
How would ousting these poor cleaners as media claims would cleanse
out this vice from Saudi Society? Is it not a very lame excuse and a
wrong prescription by few media pundits to evade the main issue of
drug trafficking? Maid Stealers- Stealing a human being from a Saudi
household is completely a new term to us. There were innumerable
reports in the Arab News on flee-away maids from Saudi households.
Filipino and Indonesian Embassies had to arrange make-shift tents for
these types of distressed maids.
Why does a maid flees or jumps through the window of her Master's
house is a matter of serious investigation. Unfortunately, the Saudi
media reports portrayed that the wretched Bangladeshis are the real
players behind all such happenings. What an invention!! It is up to
the readers to decide whether this accusation is true or well
orchestrated propaganda construed by a select media. What is the main
reason behind such malign and false propaganda?
Apart from making further comment on this sensitive issue, we would
simply say- any individual caught in heinous act of mistreatment and
flesh trade trafficking must be punished heavily irrespective of his
or her nationality. Porn CDs- This is a Hi-Tech business arena where
professional IT people are needed to make and market such CDs. To my
knowledge, microscopic few Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia
might have IT capability since 90% of this community is simply
laborers and cleaners. They may be engaged as vendors to sell the CDs
to earn few extra Riyals, but the real Godfathers are behind the
screen. In order to get rid of this filthy business once and for all,
Saudi Government should take serious effort to detect the real
Godfathers of this business.
Let them investigate who actually invest in producing, copying and
marketing such product. Mere blame game to Bangladeshi laborers would
not eradicate this vice at all. Another thing to ponder over this
issue: actors/ actresses of all porn are invariably of Indian or
European origin. Does it imply that poor Bangladeshi laborers made
such CDs by hiring non-Bengali actors and actresses at exorbitant
prices? Definitely the CDs were made somewhere else, smuggled to KSA
and sold in the Saudi market. Question to the media pundits; how then
the poor Bangladeshi ajmans (foreigners) are held responsible for this
crime?
Is pirating of CDs, software, watches and the likes are only due to
poor cleaners? Scrap Collecting- We have seen poor souls (mostly
Bangladeshis) roaming around garbage bins and collecting valuable
materials like waste cans, metallic garments hangers, etc. and in the
process, they help preserve the environment. While normal people would
hesitate to approach the nasty and filthy bin, these people are
competing with cats to secure a metallic scrap or a can of soda which
passers-by might have generously thrown into. Such is the condition of
these hapless people even after coming to their dream land; Saudi
Arabia. It is not unlikely that some of them might have resorted to
stealing man-hole covers, and cupper cables out of greed or poverty.
Those that steal such manhole covers must be punished severely.
However, if the government investigates who are the businessmen that
collect such covers and bans such business, it would have long lasting
effect. If the government bans such business, no poor people would go
near these bins to collect cans and metallic scraps to sell. May we
expect the Saudi press to uncover the true story behind such business
instead of blaming these poor expatriates for manhole cover and copper
scraps loss? Unfortunately, we hear clarion call from the Saudi media
for ouster of the whole community for roaming around garbage bins.
Is it not a disservice to the Saudi public and the government by
concealing the truth of the story? Counterfeiting governmental
documents- We agree with this accusation that some Bangladeshi
criminals are involved in this activity in parallel with other
nationals too. These criminals should be dealt with heavy handedly,
irrespective of his/her national identity. Misdeeds committed by
Bangladeshis Common misdeeds committed by Bangladeshis may be summed
up by the term "collective hooliganism".
There are few organized groups of Bangladeshi expatriates under the
cover of association or samity. Not that all samity or associations
are bad. However, a few of such Samity have groups of musclemen who
are reportedly devoted to prove their strength over a rival group
which infrequently results in open clashes in streets, breaking of
glass of parked cars, ransacking shops, and also at times, physical
assaults.
This type of unruly behavior is never seen in case of other nationals
such as Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos or Sri Lankan although their
number is no less than that of Bangladeshis in the KSA. Recall the
killing of a Saudi police by a group of Bangladeshi goons in downtown
Batha (in Riyadh), a concentration of Bangladeshi expatriates about a
year ago.
That earned a bad name for the whole community and the country as
well. No wonder, most Saudis turned 180 degree with respect to
Bangladeshis since then. It is an irony that that one incident changed
the mindset of Saudi people. Those who were vocal in praise of
Bangladeshi laborers were deeply shocked and rightfully disappointed.
We have no knowledge that the Bangladesh Embassy had investigated the
issue and recommended appropriate measures to both the Saudi and
Bangladesh governments. The tragedy is, most of these hooligans are
fugitives from Bangladesh.
They took shelter in KSA from the criminal justice system of
Bangladesh. Once in KSA, they continue their criminal practice. Normal
service holders, technicians, salespersons, laborers and cleaners have
to go to work early in the morning and return at dusk. They don't have
time to be indulged in such criminal and filthy activities.
Unfortunately, they become the target and prey of crimes committed by
a few. The Bangladesh Embassy that should have taken more serious
effort to identify and weed out criminals, unfortunately, neither have
expertise, manpower nor resources to play vital role to mitigate such
problems.
They can make a list of these thugs which presumably would not exceed
few dozens and handover such list to Saudi Authority to take care of
them. Should there be any Godfather of these thugs, he/she should also
be blacklisted and severely punished. Role of unscrupulous Recruiting
Agencies Consider the story of Judge Miah of Narsingdi, a man of forty
who came here as a cleaner five years ago. He paid Tk 3.5 lacs to the
Recruiting Agency in Dhaka to buy a cleaner's work visa. His monthly
salary was primarily SR 350 ($90) which was increased to SR 500 after
two years. He was maliciously allured by the Recruiting Agency that he
could easily earn at least SR 1000 every month additional to his
regular monthly income of SR 300. At that assurance, Judge Miah was
very happy. He sold whatever valuables he had at home, and also
borrowed funds and paid the entire amount to the Agency.
One bright day with glittering hope of making fortune within years he
landed in KSA, the dream land. His hopes began to fade away within
months. His salary is not sufficient to meet his daily needs; food,
clothes, telephone calls to his wife and similar petty but essential
expenses. He cannot save a single Halalah to support his family back
home, let alone make good fortune. So one day he left his Company and
became a free lancer. He works part time as a domestic servant, washes
cars, cleanses shops, collects scraps from garbage bins and does
varieties of jobs that he come across.
He does not know what wrong he committed; but as per his host
country's law, he became an illegal expatriate. There are thousands of
such Judge Miahs in the streets of Riyadh and other Saudi cities. They
sell betel leafs and betel nuts in busy market place, some sell Porn
CDs, some work in construction sites. The common feature among them
is; they all are illegal according to Saudi Law. Thus, due to
cumulative episodes of hundreds of such Judge Miahs, Bangladeshis have
earned a bad name in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait, in Malaysia, and in
other cities. Their national image touched rock bottom. Who is to be
blamed for such situation? Their government that failed to provide
them jobs at home or their regulatory agencies that could not
correctly govern the unscrupulous Agencies or the helpless Judge
Miahs? Visa for the Philippines is free of cost.
Moreover, the employers in KSA have to pay the Recruiting Agency of
the Philippines handsome amount as fee plus air-ticket for the
employee recruited. Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese laborers have to
pay very little amount for a visa. Question is; why then the price of
a Bangladeshi visa is so sky high? Why then poor Judge Miah has to pay
17 thousand Riyals for a single work visa? Is it because of unhealthy
competition of our Recruiting Agencies? We are told that if one bids
10 thousand Saudi Riyals for a visa with monthly salary of SR 500,
another would rush to the Saudi employer the next day and would bid 15
thousand with a reduced salary of SR 300 only! The burden ultimately
goes to the shoulder of Judge Miahs, who pay the price and roam around
in the wealthy streets of the Middle East as 21st century modern day
slaves.
He has no way to return home as he can hardly collect enough money to
pay off his debt that he borrowed to pay the agencies for a work
permit. Is he a bonded laborer? And in the process, he loses his wife,
his children and his family. What a price he has to pay for a living
and to earn home remittance for his country!! The Bangladesh
government officials would boast that the state exchequer has earned
so much billions of remittance. They are happy. But who knows how many
billions were illegally funneled out of the country in the form of
Hundi to pay for the visas abroad? Who knows how many families were
separated or broken to earn such lucrative home remittance?
Who knows how many young blood has gone into oblivion? However, it is
not true that all Recruiting Agencies are corrupt and immoral.
Definitely, many are pioneers of the Manpower Industry that generates
so many billions for the poor country. They transformed burden of
excess manpower into a national asset. They explored newer and newer
avenues abroad and exported our youths and manpower earning larger and
larger foreign cash.
Home remittance is now the major net earner of foreign exchange for
Bangladesh. But the tragedy is; the glorious achievement made by the
sector in last two decades is going to be totally damaged by misdeeds
of a microscopic few unscrupulous greedy Agencies. Who are those
people is not difficult to identify. In fact, Bangladesh government
officials know them, the embassy officials know them. Even the BAIRA
knows them. Will they ever come forward to list and stop the evil
practices of these demons that are sure to destroy this lucrative
industry and would hamper the best source of foreign exchange earnings
of Bangladesh?
Saudis are hard and intelligent people. They are not as forgetful a
nation as the Bengalis that even basically pardoned their criminals of
"crime against humanity" and criminals of the liberation war of 1971.
No wonder, Lord Hastings, the conquer of Bengal in his testimony
stated that 'Bengalis are the most forgiving nation'. In contrast,
many jokingly call Saudi people as 'non-erasable memory' that never
dies or erases.
If anything once entered into their mindset, it is hard to remove. The
negative image constructed may only be removed by sincere and
collective effort by all Bangladeshi nationals and agencies; the
Bangladesh government, its embassy officials, its Recruiting Agencies
and the expatriate Bangladeshis living in Saudi Arabia. Unless a
concerted and vigorous effort is made forthwith by all concerns, Saudi
Arabia, the home of 2 million Bangladeshi expatriates, the main source
of home remittance could turn into a no man's zone for the
Bangladeshis in near future!
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