May 5, 2011 - This article, posted by the Daily Star, highlights the effects that political unrest in Bahrain is having on workers in Bangladesh: thousands of workers are unemployed.
There are around 1.5 lakh Bangladeshis in Bahrain. Most of them work in small companies. Only a several thousand work in big construction firms and a few hundred work as professionals.
"The big companies are continuing their business but many small firms stopped operation," Ibrahim told The Daily Star last week.
For the last few days, the Bangladesh mission in Manama has been receiving around 10 complaints every day that companies are not paying the workers, he said.
The Bangladesh embassy will soon talk to the employers about the non-payment. If that does not work, embassy officials will go to Bahrain's labour ministry to seek redress.
The undocumented workers, who mostly work as day labourers, are facing the worst situation, as nobody is hiring them amid the political turmoil.
Against this backdrop, many want to come home.
The Bangladesh ambassador in Bahrain talked with the Bahrain's prime minister who assured him of allowing the undocumented workers to return without any punishment, Ibrahim said. (Click for full article)
