FROM PAGE 12

about 70 percent of Bangladeshi workforce in the Gulf country is involved in this field as unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers, according to the Bangladesh mission there.

An official at the Bangladesh Embassy said those who have valid visas were able to go back to Bahrain from Bangladesh maintaining due health guidelines at present.

However, those who saw their visas expired amid the pandemic are unable to do so, the official said, seeking anonymity.

He added the Bahrain government did not give the embassy any assurance on such visa-holders despite repeated communications.

Sheikh Mohammed Tauhidul Islam, labour welfare counsellor at Bangladesh Embassy in Manama, said the number of Bahrain-based expatriates stuck in Bangladesh with expired visas could be around 1,200.

Most of them are migrant workers while the list also includes investors and family visa holders. The embassy collected their numbers from various sources, Tauhidul told this newspaper via WhatsApp on October 28.

He said the embassy has been trying in different ways including “issuing an official note verbale” to negotiate with the Bahrain government so that the latter reinstate the expired visas.

Talking to The Daily Star again on Monday, Tauhidul said as per the directive of the ambassador, the mission has prepared a fresh “note verbale” to send to the Bahrain authorities in a day or two. This might lead to a solution, he added.