Sunday, 02 March 2008: RIYADH - The Bangladeshi Ministry of Labor and Expatriate Care called on its constituents in Saudi Arabia to "follow the Kingdom's laws and regulations and respect its traditions and conventions."

Bangladeshi labor official Abdul Mateen Shwari, said he hope that all Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom will comply with the ministry's instructions.

Officials from the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh and its Consulate General in Jeddah have increased their visits and meetings with the Bangladeshi community in the Kingdom to create an awareness about the tarnished image of their country owing to the media reports that many Bangladeshis are engaged in some criminal activities.

Media reports, particularly in Arabic newspapers, cited Bangladeshis' indulgence in all sorts of crimes, said Waheedur Rahman, deputy chief of mission (DCM) at Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh.

Ambassador Ikramul Haque has been holding frequent meetings with the Bangladeshi community leaders at the embassy's premises.

"Usually, the embassy in Riyadh and consulate general in Jeddah visit the community members two or three times in a week. But we have increased the frequency of the visits to three to four times a week," said Rahman.

Rahman said some Bangladeshi recruited for menial jobs are forced to engage in some criminal activities, but very few people know about this. He wondered aloud why some Bangladeshi miscreants are released by the police immediately after their arrest.

He said the Bangladeshis apprehended by the police in crowded districts like Hai Al-Wazarat and Batha were selling banned pornographic CDs or were engaged in other criminal acts but were immediately released to indulge in the same crime the following days.

He believed that their is a syndicate composed of various nationalities under the patronage of their sponsors and said that if the security forces take stern actions against these groups these crimes could be abated.

He lamented that the crimes being committed by the Bangladeshis are played out of proportion by the media.

Citing statistics released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said that around 715 Bangladeshis were involved in various criminal

By Shahid Ali Khan

© The Saudi Gazette 2008