THE 82 Bangladeshi workers who were forced to return to Dhaka from Dubai aii port on the ground that they had fake visas on them can now actually go back to Dubai. The immigration authoi ities in Dubai, as we understand, have now acknowledged that the visas were genuine and that there was a 'communication gap' that compelled the workers to go back to D laka. That is all very well, but even so the explanation give n out by the Dubai authorities about a communication g ip being there does not hold much water. The workers, once they landed in Dubai, were told in no uncertain term: that they had to go back to Dhaka as their visas were not ir order. No explanations were offered and even attempts b (the Biman authorities, who were responsible for taking ti e workers to Dubai, to explain matters were rudely brushec aside.

There is little question that the entin: ordeal of a journey from Dhaka to Dubai and then summ; rily being sent back has been traumatic for the 82 Banglad' ishis. Now that they have been told they can go back to 1 )ubai, they cannot quite be certain who will bear the expenses of the new journey. Moreover, there is the question of the financial loss Bangladesh Biman has suffered throuj h the reckless move of Dubai immigration. Biman was forced to off-load some of its scheduled passengers in order tc accommodate the returning workers. The question that must now be answered is simple: who is at fault regarding the plight of the workers? Obviously, the finger ofblAme is pointed, with good reason, at the Dubai immigration authorities. Then comes the other question: what level ol personnel at Dubai airport determined, and on what criteria, that the Bangladeshi workers had arrived on ake visas? The fact that now a communication gap is bein g talked about simply will not do and it should be for the I angladesh authorities, especially the foreign ministry and the overseas employment and expatriates' welfare ministry to take up the issue with the authorities in Dubki. The Bangladesh mission should take up the matter in earnest and get to the bottom of asituation that has left every me confounded.

Meanwhile, the evident trauhra that the 82 Bangladeshis have gone through call: for financial compensation to be made to them. The £ angladesh government, in a firm move that clearly ougl it not to be seen as any form of genuflection, must approach the UAE authorities and present the case for tl ese people who, in all probability, spent a fortune desp: te their poverty to make that bungled trip to Dubai. In father words, those who are responsible for causing tiem such misery, indeed for such a lapse that is now d escribed as a communicationgap, must be made to mal e amends.