Around a million Bangladeshis reside in the UAE, the second largest remittance sending country for Bangladesh Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka TribuneIn the last seven years, ministers and senior government officials, on numerous occasions, have expressed optimism that the UAE job market would open “soon,” but the optimism is yet to materialiseThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) job market has remained all but shut to Bangladeshi workers for more than seven years. In the last seven years, ministers and senior government officials, on numerous occasions, have expressed optimism that the UAE job market would open “soon,” but the optimism is yet to materialise. Prime Minister Hasina arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night on a three-day official visit to attend the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2020 and Zayed Sustainability Prize Ceremony. “It is not true that the job market has been shut completely. Losing the UAE job market has been and still is a severe setback for us.”“As far as I know, the UAE government is reluctant to reopen the labour market as Bangladeshi workers protested earlier, demanding certain things; and authorities in Middle Eastern countries do not like agitations,” he added.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 13, 2020 18:22 UTC