68 workers' return from UAEGovt forms probe body, ministries trade blame

The ministries concerned pointed fingers at each other over the incident of 68 Bangladeshi migrant workers' forced return from Abu Dhabi airport.

The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said it cannot take the responsibility of financial loss of these passengers.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to form an inquiry committee to find out the actual reason(s) behind the deportation of these Bangladeshi workers.

The decision was taken in an inter-ministerial meeting, participated by senior officials of the foreign affairs ministry, expatriates' welfare ministry and civil aviation ministry.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh chairman was made the head of the committee, which was asked to submit its report by five working days.

"We should know actually what happened. And that is why we have formed a committee to look into this matter," Expatriates' Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad told the newsmen after the meeting.

The committee will find out exactly what led to the deportation of those passengers, the minister said.

"We do not want that our workers will face the similar situation in future. It causes severe financial loss to them."

According to the primary assumption, the passengers might be deported from the airport due to lack of proper information, the minister also said.

Presently, identity and citizenship information, and advance passenger information are sought by the host government.

"Citizenship information needs to be provided online, and it is the responsibility of the passenger concerned, whereas advance passenger information is being provided by the airline concerned."

Officials in the meeting argued that since the deported passengers got their boarding pass, it was assumed that they would face no problem in entering Abu Dhabi.

Some officials in the meeting pointed fingers at the Bangladesh Mission in Dubai, saying that it failed to provide proper information regarding the latest rules and regulations of the UAE government.

On the other hand, it was also alleged that the migrant workers, who stayed more than six months in Bangladesh, were issued tickets by Biman. But those, who stayed less than six months, were denied.

Usually if the stay period in Bangladesh is over six months, the passenger concerned faces a lot of complications, an official of the expatriates' welfare ministry said.

The minister told the meeting that it focused on reaching a solution to the problem. "We are not here to exchange blames among each other, we want to ensure that such incident will not repeat."

Responding to a question, the minister made it clear that his ministry will not take the responsibility of making up financial loss of the 68 passengers, who were forced to return from the Abu Dhabi airport.