Expats protest outside Expatriate’ welfare ministry for Covid vaccine
Reportedly, these people were told by the civil surgeon offices to get the vaccine from the ministry today
A group of expatriates protested outside the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment in Dhaka's Eskaton today demanding an immediate vaccination drive before Eid-ul-Adha for those who returned to the country due to the global coronavirus epidemic.
Besides, they demanded to vaccinate those with no national identity (NID) cards on the basis of their passports.
The agitated expats took position in front of the office of the ministry around 10am.
As the outraged expatriates thronged the Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Imran Ahmed, upon his arrival on the ministry premises at 10:45am, he assured that the vaccination will be held on a priority basis.
Reportedly, these people were told by the civil surgeon offices to get the vaccine from the ministry today for which they failed to register until the filing of this report.
Most of the protesting expatriates were from Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar.
Md Yasin, one of the protesting expatriates, complained about being harassed constantly.
He told the Business Standard, "I was unable to go back to my workplace in Dubai for not being vaccinated. Thus, I came here today after a lot of hassle amid ongoing lockdown at the behest of civil surgeon's office but no progress has been made yet."
Yasin, another despondent expatriate who came from Gopalganj, said that his visa validity will be ending soon yet he couldn't even register to get vaccinated.
Later around 11am, the agitated expatriates were removed by Ansar members out on the street from the gate of the ministry.