Why Oman suspends issuing visas to Bangladeshis

• The Gulf nation has also suspended converting all tourist and visit visas to work visas for all nationalities
• Oman recruited 1.06 lakh workers from Bangladesh this year until September, ranking as the third highest among destination countries
• Last year, 1.79 lakh Bangladeshis were employed in the Gulf state, contributing to a total overseas employment of 11.35 lakh, setting a record for a calendar year

Oman has suspended issuing all types of new visas to Bangladeshi citizens due to, according to sector insiders, an oversupply of workers from the South Asian nation.

The Royal Oman Police on Tuesday announced the visa suspension with immediate effect without specifying the reason.

The Middle Eastern country has also suspended converting all tourist and visit visas to work visas for all nationalities.

Bangladeshi recruiters told The Business Standard that hundreds of workers have lost their jobs in the past six months in Oman, and many have been defrauded by middlemen and have not received their promised jobs.

Many have welcomed the visa suspension decision on social media because they believe it will ease the job crisis in the Gulf country.

Shumon Khan, a Bangladeshi migrant who has lived in Muscat for two years, told TBS over the phone on Wednesday that he has not had regular work in the last six months.

He said he did not face such a difficult situation last year, but the situation has worsened in recent months because more Bangladeshis have arrived in the country than there are jobs available.

"I could not eat properly or pay my rent due to a lack of work. Even when I have some work, I am not paid fairly.

"Thousands of people are unemployed, and in Muscat, there is a market called Al Hill, mainly dominated by Bangladeshis. Every morning and afternoon, hundreds of unemployed Bangladeshis gather here, hoping to find work."

He alleged that brokers are engaging in deceptive practices regarding employment.

"I have spent Tk3.5 lakh," he said. "I was initially told that I would be working in a shop, but upon arrival, I found that they had assigned me as a mason. Now, even that work is not available."

The Oman government, under the employment and replacement plan, took the initiative to increase job opportunities for Omani citizens and replace foreign workers with locals, reported Arab News in August.

Oman is on course to surpass its 2023 employment and replacement plan after hitting 53% of its target for job creation in the first half of the year, it added.

Bangladesh embassy officials could not be reached via mobile phone regarding the issue. However, on October 30, the embassy issued a notice stating that individuals coming to the Bangladesh embassy for visa or agreement attestation are required to submit visas and agreements along with certain documents and information, including the salary sheets of workers for the last three months.

It is assumed that the embassy issued this notice to prevent the issuance of fake demand letters and ensure that unnecessary workers do not enter the job market.

According to a July report, Bangladeshi nationals are at the top of the list of expatriate workers in the Gulf country, with a total of 703,840 individuals, followed by 530,242 Indians.

Oman recruited 1.06 lakh workers from Bangladesh this year until September, ranking as the third highest among destination countries, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).

Last year, 1.79 lakh Bangladeshis were employed in the Gulf state, contributing to a total overseas employment of 11.35 lakh, setting a record for a calendar year.

"In the last financial year, the top three countries where most people went were Saudi Arabia, Oman and Malaysia. It can be said without a doubt that our total outflows will decline due to the drop of one of these significant destinations," Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told TBS.

"On our part, we process and send workers with the government's approval. We do not send anyone through deception," he added.

Stating that there are very few project-based workers in Oman, he said, "80% of people go individually, where family and friends often facilitate the visa process for their relatives."

He urged the government to engage in bilateral discussions with Oman to determine the reasons for this and work towards resuming it.

Bangladeshi workers sent $790.65 million in remittances from Oman in FY23

Oman's economy is estimated to slow down in 2023, capped by Opec+ production cuts and slower global economic activity, according to a World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook.

However, the economy is anticipated to strengthen over the medium term, driven by higher energy production and wide-ranging structural reforms.

Illegal visa trade behind the overflow of migrants

Bangladeshi workers typically pay Tk2–4 lakh to agencies to go to Oman.

Abu Rayhan, a Bangladeshi resident in Muscat for over a decade, told TBS, "There's a visa trade encircling Bangladeshis, with Bangladeshi recruiters and brokers involved. Many employers are issuing fake demand letters, even if they don't need workers, and they're making a lot of money from this, in lakhs of taka."

He mentioned that the job crisis has deepened since the Covid-19 pandemic.

A worker could earn more than Tk40,000 per month before the current crisis. The typical salary is now around Tk25,000 to Tk35,000, according to insiders.

AHM Anwar Pasha, additional director general of BMET, told TBS, "We have been issued a clearance card against the legal demand letter from Oman. However, our ministry will look after the issue as a new situation has arisen."

The decision to suspend visas came weeks after the visit of an official delegation from Oman to Dhaka. Ambassador Dr Sulaiman Saud Al Jabri, head of the legal department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the visit from 11-14 October.

During the meeting with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, the delegation expressed Oman's interest in signing two memoranda of understanding that would enhance the existing manpower cooperation, safeguard Bangladeshi workers' interests, and combat illegal migration and trafficking.