Expats can go to Oman from 1 Oct, need COVID-19 test report: Momen

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said Bangladeshi expatriates, who got stuck in the country due to COVID-19 pandemic, will be able to return to their workplaces in Oman from 1 October, reports news agency UNB.

He said the Bangladeshis can return to Oman by any airlines without the obligation of having no objection certificate (NOCs) from the Embassy.

Momen said they got the message from the Oman government on Thursday.

But the returnees must have valid Omani resident permits or Iqamas, valid passports and COVID-19 test reports, Momen said.

A 14-day quarantine is mandatory for those who would go there after their reaching in Oman, he added.

The foreign minister also trashed the perception that the Saudi Arabia will send back 54,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh.

There are many people to instigate because Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia maintain a very good relation with 2.2 million workers in the KSA.

He said the Saudi government wants Bangladesh to provide passports to 54,000 Rohingyas, as the Saudi government does not keep stateless people.

“It doesn’t mean the Saudi government will send them back to Bangladesh,” Momen said.

The foreign minister also said around 39 to 40 years ago, the Saudi authorities had taken Rohingyas seeing their sufferings. “They didn’t have any passport.”

Though the Rohingyas have been living in Saudi Arabia for decades and speak Arabic, they do not have any passport.

Bangladesh made it clear that it will give them passports only when there is proof that they used to live in Bangladesh and they have relevant previous documents.

Momen said the Saudi government urged Bangladesh to take back 462 Rohingyas who are currently in Saudi jails for committing crimes.

Bangladesh Mission checked it and found only 70-80 people have Bangladeshi passports.

The foreign minister said Bangladesh will bring back those 70-80 people who have Bangladeshi passports by issuing travel documents. “We don’t know about others.”

Bangladesh is already overburdened with over 1.1 million Rohingyas who are living in Cox’s Bazar district.

On Wednesday night, the government urged the expatriate Bangladeshis who will return to their workplaces in Saudi Arabia to maintain discipline while collecting air tickets and applying for visa extension following due procedures.

The government also urged the expatriates not to create any chaos instigated by any third party.

The foreign ministry specially mentioned three locations -- the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka, ticketing booths of the Saudi Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines -- where expatriates Bangladeshis must maintain discipline.

Bangladeshi workers who got stuck in the country will be able to return to their workplaces in Saudi Arabia smoothly as soon as both Biman and Saudi airlines got permission to operate apart from addressing visa and Iqama issues.

The Saudi government agreed to extend visas for the Bangladeshis, if already expired, who want to return to their workplaces in Saudi Arabia.

“Only a few cases of visa expiry, not that all visas have expired,” said the foreign minister.

The visa extension process for those whose visas have expired will start on Sunday.

He also said Bangladesh workers’ Iqamas will remain valid for 24 more days and there will be further extension, if needed.