Bahrain urged to ease visa process for Bangladeshi workers

Bangladesh has urged Bahrain to work towards easing the process of applying as well as obtaining Bahraini visas for Bangladeshi nationals.

Bangladesh also requested Bahrain to approve the re-entry of its 207 stranded workers and 150 stranded families whose visas expired during the pandemic time.

The issues were discussed at the long-awaited first round of the Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) between Bangladesh and Bahrain in Manama Sunday, as per an official press release. 

Bahrain assured Bangladesh of solving the issues at the earliest.

The Bangladesh delegation was led by Secretary (East) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mashfee Binte Shams. The Bahrain delegation was led by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

During the meeting, the two sides also stressed the importance of forming a "strategic partnership" between the countries to promote the steady growth of bilateral relationships.

Mashfee requested Bahrain to open its labour market to new Bangladeshi workers. Her Bahrain counterpart underscored a fair and transparent recruitment system.

The Bangladesh side mentioned a few good models by which Bangladeshis are being recruited for overseas employment.

Also, the government has taken a zero-tolerance policy against illegal migration and signed MoU to prevent human trafficking in some countries, it added.

The delegations from both sides sought each other's support and cooperation in trade, economics, labour, youth, sports, airing candidacies in international elections, mutual exchange of visits of senior-level officials, blue economy, and the signing of pending bilateral instruments that are yet to be finalised and several other topics of mutual interest.

The next round of FOC will be held in Dhaka in 2023.