DHAKA: Head of the chancery of the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh, Mohammed Ayub is deliberately creating obstacles to discourage the outsourcing company to process data entry for issuing Machine Readable Passport (MRP) to migrant workers.

As per instruction of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the validity of manual passport would expire on November 24, 2015. Within the stipulated time, the government has to provide MRP to all expatriate Bangladeshis.

Bangladesh embassies have been issuing MRP in a limited scale as these embassies are not capable to issue MRP to huge number of migrants, especially in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Malaysia.

And unless MRPs are provided within the deadline, the Bangladeshi migrant workers would turn illegal. Moreover, the migrants, who remit around $14 billion annually and keep the economy vibrant, have to return home.

Considering the trouble of migrants and the country’s economy, the government at its highest level decided to appoint outsourcing companies to do the job. 

It was also assessed that migrants have to spend time and money, if they have to go from their distant workplace to the embassy to get MRP.

If the outsourcing companies are appointed, they would go to the door-step of migrant workers for data collection, which would be convenient to them.

On July 21, 2014, the government signed an agreement with IRIS Corporation Berhad to provide MRP to the expatriate Bangladeshis.

As per the agreement, the company started work in Saudi Arabia, and established an application processing centre as a pilot project.

The company could not run the project smoothly as Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh did not facilitate the outsourcing company. Instead, embassy officials were hindering the company so that it cannot become successful.

Especially, Mohammed Ayub, who has a good connection with a section of unscrupulous middlemen, is trapping the migrants to get MRP through the embassy. An applicant has to pay additional 100 to 200 Saudi riyals to the middlemen.

None is issued MRP if he or she does not apply through the middlemen. When a migrant worker goes to the embassy directly, Ayub discourages him or her, saying there are mistakes in the papers and there lack necessary documents.

If it is estimated that 1 million migrants have to issue MRP in Saudi Arabia and if 100 riyals were taken as an extra charge from a migrant, the amount stands at Tk 320 crore.

Ayub could not but check his greed for the money. He is now leaving no efforts to hinder IRIS to do the company’s job. 

To implement his evil scheme, as part of eyewash, the embassy is circulating notification not to pay MRP fee to any office rather than Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh and Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah.

The notification also said passport fees can also be paid at an office of IRIS Corporation Berhad at Samsia Plaza at Batha in Riyadh.

Contradicting the notification, Ayub is secretly maintaining illegal connection with the middlemen so that the embassy would issue MRP to cash in the money. 

As part of tactics, he in the notification mentioned that passport fee at embassy and consulate counters is fixed at 145 Saudi riyals for general category, and 435 riyals for professional category.

Passport fee at IRIS Corporation Berhad counter is fixed at 180 riyals and 470 riyals for respective categories.

Deliberately, he did not mention that IRIS is charging 35 riyals more as service charge. Thus he is willfully discouraging the migrants to go to IRIS for MRP purposes.

To fulfill his own interest, Ayub is challenging the government decision, pushing thousands of migrants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into serious uncertainty.

As embassy is not technically sound for data entry, the government decided to appoint the reputed company like IRIS to get the MRP job done.

According to the agreement, the embassy would facilitate the outsourcing company to run its activities smoothly, but unfortunately the embassy is doing the opposite.

Media reports say Bangladeshi expatriates are being harassed at the embassy in Riyadh.

Every day on an average 1,000 migrants go to the embassy to receive service of various items including passport.

After reaching the embassy, they have to face multifarious problems. Following the instruction of the embassy officials, a section of middlemen crowded around the embassy.

Regarding issuance of MRP or renewal of passport, there are unscrupulous middlemen at every step, the middlemen charge several times of riyals more than the amount fixed by the government.

Whenever any expatriate tries to avoid the middlemen, he or she was assaulted. At a crucial stage, finding no other way, the victims reveal the secrecy. Although high officials are involved, neither the government nor the embassy is taking action.

BDST: 1858 HRS, JAN 03, 2015