sexual harassment of expat workers abroad
HC asks govt to submit list within 30 days
STAFF REPORTER
The High Court (HC) yesterday directed the government to submit a detailed list within 30 days on the number of Bangladeshi workers sexually harassed in foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia, till date. It also asked the government to submit a list of Bangladeshi workers sent to various countries, including Saudi Arabia, and how many of them had returned home willingly or with the governments help.
The HC asked the secretaries of the expatriate welfare ministry and the foreign affairs ministry, the director general of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, the chairman of the Wage Earners Welfare Board and president and secretary of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies to submit the list before it within 30 days. In response to a writ petition, the HC bench, comprising Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Farid Ahmed, also issued a rule, asking the government to explain why it should be directed to ensure safety and security of expatriate workers and why its inaction to compensate and rehabilitate those who faced physical and mental sufferings, as well as sexual harassment, should not be declared illegal.
The HC bench also asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to take appropriate legal action against the recruiting agencies and people who sent Bangladeshi workers abroad without following the due process of law.
A total of 11 officials, including secretaries of the expatriates welfare and foreign ministries, the director general of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), the chairman of the Wage Earners Welfare Board, and president and the secretary of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) have been made respondents to reply to the rule within two weeks.
Supreme Court lawyer barrister Mahfuzur Rahman Milon, who is also the executive director of Justice Watch Foundation, filed the writ petition, seeking necessary order over the matter. The writ petition and the HC order came up at a time when scores of Bangladeshi women continue to return home daily from Saudi Arabia after facing physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their Saudi employers.
Many rights bodies, NGOs, and former maids who were abused called on the government to protect Bangladeshi female domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.
Members of the coalition include the BRAC migration programme, which helps abused migrant workers, and BOMSA, which provides training to women planning to work overseas.
Local migrant rights groups estimate that more than 2,000 women have come back to Bangladesh in the last six months after citing instances of abuse. Many returned home after escaping to Bangladesh government shelters in Riyadh and detention centres across Saudi Arabia, according to reports.
Bangladesh Civil Society for Migration, in a press release, described instances where Bangladeshi maids were being tortured, sexually and physically abused, and even raped by their employers.
International pressure groups should be vocal in holding Saudi Arabia accountable and bringing them to justice for their action, protect human rights and prevent abuse, the group said during a press conference in Dhaka last month.
