Bangladesh has proposed establishing an online platform to receive allegations if any Bangladeshi migrant worker who wishes to go to Saudi Arabia faces harassment in receiving service from medical test centres accredited by the Saudi authorities.

The proposal was made during a recent meeting held between Dr Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan, Senior Secretary of Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, and Suleiman bin Saleh AlDakhil, Director General of the Gulf Health Council.

The meeting was held at the Headquarters of Gulf Health Council during the official visit of Dr Neyamat Ullah to Riyadh, KSA, according to an official document obtained by BSS.

During the meeting, Dr Neyamat informed the director general of Gulf Health Council (GHC) about mismanagement by the GHC-affiliated medical centres which conduct medical tests for migrant workers in Bangladesh.

Dhaka also raised the issues of noncompliance with the guidelines of GHC, generating fraudulent medical reports, imposing extra charges by the medical centres, and failing to upload medical results to the MoFA KSA portal.

It also mentioned that Dhaka- and major city-centric test centres, in many cases, involve additional time, costs and workers’ hassle to travel from remote villages.

The absence of a permanent supervisory office of GHC and lack of effective oversight were also discussed.

To resolve these problems in conducting the medical tests, Bangladesh asked the GHC not to issue accreditation to medical test centres without enlistment under Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEW&OE), aiming to check fraudulence, harassment and exploitation of expatriate workers.

Tripartite (Ministry of Health, MoEW&OE and GHC) coordination and periodic meetings through an online platform were also proposed at the meeting.

Bangladesh stressed the need for continuous monitoring by 110 technical training centres (TTCs) and other field offices under the MoEW&OE.

During the meeting, both parties agreed to enhance cooperation and collaboration for mutual benefit, assign one focal point from the Ministry of Health, the MoEW&OE and the GHC for better communication and coordination, and launch an awareness campaign by 110 TTCs to protect the expatriate workers from exploitation.

The MoEW&OE shall write a letter to the GHC clarifying its mandate for oversight on medical tests and justifying ministry enlistment to ensure better compliance with the GHC guidelines, the document read.