Bangladeshis Defrauded in Egypt as Workers Go Unpaid for Three Months

About 220 Bangladeshi workers at a garment factory in the port city of Alexandria, Egypt, have not received pay for three months in a row. They say they are living in deep financial crisis and uncertainty. The victims also allege that the passports of at least 160 workers are being held back. The workers say they work at a garment factory of Shinler Egypt through a Bangladeshi sub contractor named Mohammad Abdullah.

The workers accuse him of not paying wages for a long time and not returning passports. They also say he gave false promises to arrange work permits and scared workers who asked for their dues. Some workers say they were threatened with arrest by the police when they asked for wages and passports. Some of them also allege that a few workers were detained on false charges.

A Bangladeshi worker named Shuvo, who works as an operator at Shinler Egypt, said he worked on the contract line of Abdullah for seven months. He got pay for four months but has not received pay for the last three months. Shuvo said, “I contacted the cheat Abdullah again and again to ask for my wages and passport, but he refused to give them. When I tried to contact him later, he scared and threatened me. He said if I asked for my passport or wages, he would have me arrested by the police and I would be tortured after the arrest.”

He added, “Since these threats, I live in great fear and insecurity. It is very painful that a migrant worker has to live in fear just for asking for his fair wages and passport.” Shuvo claimed that Abdullah holds the passports of about 160 workers. He said, “We cannot send money to our families because we have had no pay for three months. Our families at home are also in financial trouble. Here, it has become hard to pay for food, house rent and daily costs.”

Another victim, who did not want to be named, said that last week 25 to 30 workers went together to the factory office to talk about wages and passports. They spoke with Quality Manager Mohammad Salah. He told them that the office holds 75 passports and that visas have been made in their names. When the workers asked to see the visas, he refused to show them. When they asked for three months of unpaid wages, he said the factory owes no one anything. He said, “We have paid Abdullah everything.”

Another worker, Radwan Ullah, said Abdullah, who comes from Cumilla and lives in Egypt, has been involved with Bangladeshi workers in different garment jobs for a long time. He alleged that Abdullah pays workers regularly for the first few months. Then he suddenly stops the wages of 50 to 60 workers, and sometimes even 100 workers, all at once. Radwan Ullah said, “Abdullah is a cheat. He makes Bangladeshi workers work but does not pay their dues. Many times he keeps workers locked up and holds their passports. This is not new. It has been happening for a long time.”

Sharing his own experience, he said the same thing happened to him. Abdullah did not pay his wages for several months and held his passport. He then complained to the embassy. The embassy called Abdullah, but he did not go. Later, he told a journalist about it, and the journalist phoned Abdullah. After that, he and three of his friends got their passports back. He claimed that when workers protest about their dues or rights, Abdullah has them arrested by the police, locks them in rooms, beats them and harasses them in many other ways. He said, “We want a fair investigation and trial of Abdullah.”

Another Bangladeshi worker, Saheb Khan, said the man they work under is named Abdullah, from Cumilla, and he has married in Egypt. Through his contract, 220 Bangladeshi workers now work night shifts at Shinler Egypt. But they do not get regular pay, and three months of wages are stuck. He said, “Because we are new, they scare us in many ways. So many of us cannot speak out in fear.” He alleged that Abdullah holds everyone’s passport. He said that when workers ask for wages and passports, Abdullah threatens to have them beaten by his Egyptian brother in law and other relatives of his wife’s family.

The victim workers have asked for urgent help from the Bangladesh Embassy in Egypt. Their demands are to get back the held passports, to collect three months of unpaid wages, to get needed legal help for detained workers and to ensure the safety of workers from those involved. The workers say they are helpless in a foreign land. They say the effective steps of the Bangladesh Embassy are now their last hope to protect their lives, safety, dignity and fair dues.

Sources at the Bangladesh Embassy in Egypt said they have received such complaints. They said they have called Abdullah several times and asked him to come to the embassy, but he has not come so far. The source said the embassy is taking the matter seriously. The embassy is trying to bring Abdullah to the embassy with the help of local law enforcement and to take the needed steps to return the passports of the victim workers. The Bangladeshi workers are worried about three months of unpaid wages, held passports and insecurity, and they are waiting for a quick solution.

It is also worth noting that the Egyptian government has not renewed the bilateral agreement on hiring Bangladeshi workers for about ten years. This follows claims that some Bangladeshi workers were involved in crimes like murder and robbery, and it also comes from rising unemployment in Egypt. As a result, direct work permit visas for Bangladeshis are nearly limited or closed. But demand for Bangladeshi workers in garment and other factories in Egypt remains, so a good number of Bangladeshis enter Egypt every month on visit visas through different ways.

If they do not renew their visa or permission to stay on time, they fall into an irregular status. Later, some of them find work in factories and firms. Their employer completes the needed papers and process, and they apply to the concerned authorities with a note verbale from the Bangladesh Embassy. After checking, they may get a work permit or legal permission to work as per the law.

Embassy sources said several Bangladeshi workers have applied to the embassy and to the concerned Egyptian law enforcement authorities to get their passports back and seek other remedies. Looking at the nature and background of the matters in their applications, the embassy sees that they fall under checking and settlement by the factory authorities and the law enforcement authorities, as per current Egyptian laws and rules. So the embassy has taken the needed steps to check and settle the matters through the proper legal process.