2 mln Bangladeshis enlisted online to work in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Feb. 12 (NsNewsWire) — A Bangladeshi diplomat said that his country has an online enlisted more than 2 million nationals who are ready to work in Saudi Arabia for a minimum wage of 266 U. S. dollars.
Muhammad Najm Al-Islam, Bangladeshi Consul General in Jeddah told a press conference, that the Bangladeshi candidates have been trained at 64 centers, while the minimum wage was imposed to enable them to cover their expenses and money requirements, reports Xinhua News Agency of China quoting Al Hayat newspaper Wednesday.
He revealed that Saudi Arabia has 1.3 million Bangladeshis with legal documents, while the country needs more workers to cover shortage in laborers, especially in the construction sector after the crackdown on illegal workers that led to the deportation of illegal workers from various nationalities.
Contractors in Saudi Arabia highlighted to the press late last year that the wages of labourers in the construction sector have increased between 25 to 30 percent because of the shortage of workers.
They attributed the reason to the six-month amnesty that ended in November 2013, and expected further increase in wages until the labour market is stable back again and highlighted severe shortage in plumbing and electricity-related jobs.
The consul said that during the amnesty last year about 800,000 Bangladeshis corrected their paperwork and 30,000 were deported. Enditem