Tragic, Heartbreaking

Last Sunday afternoon, August 9, 16 expatriate Bangladeshis were killed in a devastating fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in the Musa Sanaiya industrial area under the Shifa police station in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. Among the victims, 13 were from Atrai upazila of Naogaon, two from Naldanga upazila of Natore and one from Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi. The fire is initially believed to have started because of an electrical short circuit. The Bangladesh Embassy said its officials immediately went to the scene after receiving news of the fire. According to Saudi Civil Defence officials, eight of the victims died directly in the fire, while the other eight died from suffocation caused by smoke. The victims lived in a section of the factory.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman expressed profound grief over the tragic and heartbreaking incident. In a condolence message, he expressed sympathy to the bereaved families and assured them of all necessary assistance. Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaid Islam also expressed their condolences. The families of the victims have demanded that the government make immediate arrangements to bring the bodies back to Bangladesh. We express our deepest sorrow over this heartbreaking tragedy and extend our condolences to the bereaved families.

According to data from the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, around 16 million Bangladeshi workers are currently employed in different countries around the world. The majority work in various Middle Eastern countries, with Saudi Arabia employing the largest number, around 3.5 million. Bangladeshis are also working in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. Expatriates in these countries provide a significant share of Bangladesh’s foreign currency earnings. The remittances they send play an important role in keeping the country’s economy moving. Economists say that even a Bangladeshi expatriate who sends a single dollar home makes an important contribution to the national economy. The question is how much the government and the countries concerned are doing to ensure safe accommodation and security for migrant workers.

Newspapers frequently report on the suffering and hardships faced by expatriate workers. There are also frequent reports of workers dying in accidents while employed. They suffer accidents while working on development projects in host countries, with some losing their lives and others becoming permanently disabled. Expatriates often complain that they do not receive adequate assistance from Bangladeshi embassies in the countries where they work. They face various forms of harassment and complications. At the same time, expatriate workers in these countries have no trade unions to raise demands for safe working conditions, hygienic accommodation, higher wages and other facilities. It is often found that the factories and construction sites where they work do not have adequate safety measures. Most Bangladeshis working in Saudi Arabia are poor. They work day and night to earn a living, yet they lack proper working conditions and suitable accommodation.

The authorities of the relevant establishments pay little attention to their welfare. They are treated merely as workers. The Saudi government, too, does not appear to show sufficient sympathy or compassion toward Bangladeshi expatriates. Yet the 3.5 million Bangladeshis have played an immense role in keeping the country’s development engine running and enabling Saudi Arabia’s people to live amid grand buildings and prosperity. These Bangladeshis have become partners in Saudi Arabia’s development. If the Saudi government showed humanity and a sense of brotherhood toward Bangladeshi workers and paid greater attention to their welfare, it would benefit even more. If Saudi citizens had suffered such tragic deaths instead of Bangladeshis, it is needless to say what response the authorities might have made.

We believe the Saudi government should, on humanitarian grounds, provide appropriate assistance to the families of the 16 Bangladeshis who died in the fire and demonstrate a sense of Muslim brotherhood toward fellow Muslims. Yet the country has spent billions of dollars year after year on efforts to suppress the Houthis in Yemen and on the civil war in Sudan. Had this money instead been spent on the development and welfare of Muslims, it would have strengthened mutual brotherhood and unity across the Muslim world while also making it more prosperous. Saudi Arabia would have stood at the centre of such leadership.

The tragic fire in Saudi Arabia that killed 16 Bangladeshis has cut off the livelihoods of 16 families. Their dreams and hopes for prosperity have been shattered. The families now face a humanitarian catastrophe. Some children have been orphaned. Elderly parents who have lost their sons have been plunged into a lifetime of grief. Many families may have sold land or borrowed heavily to send their sons to Saudi Arabia, leaving themselves financially destitute. The highest levels of government should act swiftly to rescue these families from their devastating circumstances by providing adequate financial assistance and other support. The government should also engage with the authorities of countries where hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi workers are employed and sending back remittances, taking initiatives to ensure safe working conditions and proper accommodation, as well as adequate compensation and assistance for workers injured or killed in accidents. The government must issue firm directives to ensure that Bangladeshi embassies in those countries play an effective role in resolving workers’ problems.