by Liu Chuntao, Naim-Ul-Karim, Shariful Islam

DHAKA, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — Everybody seems to be in a mad rush to have their names registered with the relevant authorities to try and secure jobs in Saudi Arabia.

Unemployed and in a dire need of employment, job seekers braved opposition enforced strikes and non-stop blockades to travel to Dhaka after they came to know about the low cost of migrating to the Muslim Kingdom.

As with the previous two days, hundreds of job seekers have descended on Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment since Thursday morning, with a a view to obtaining employment after Saudi Arabia resumed its recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, lifting a six-year ban.

There was a mad rush to complete all the required procedures.

Hundreds of job seekers were seen waiting outside the government ministry office, desperate to get inside and get registered.

Others were seen cheering by Thursday evening as they managed to complete their procedures and now expect a call from a Saudi employer for a blue collar job.

“After hectic efforts since Thursday morning I had the opportunity to enter the office and complete all the required procedures,” said Shah Alam, who came from a northern Bangladesh district, some 268 km away from Dhaka.

“Soon after learning the information from my relatives, I started for Dhaka,” he told Xinhua.

Like Alam, Din Islam came from Gazipur on the outskirts of Dhaka. He also had his name registered with the BMET with the hope of getting a job in the oil-rich Middle Eastern country.

Another, Arif Hossain, from Savar also on the outskirts of Dhaka, rushed to the office to have his name registered for an overseas job placement. “It’s an opportunity for me to obtain foreign employment. It’s a very lucrative offer as Saudi employers will bear the full migration costs of the workers,” he said.

“We are so delighted to know about the Saudi employment offers. The offers came at such a time when our country has been suffering from a volatile political situation, which is taking its toll on the entire economy and slowing down new employment opportunities in the country,” said Hossain.

Officials say the salary and prospect of zero travel expenses have encouraged people to get a job in the Middle Eastern country.

Just about a week after lifting a seven-year ban, Riyadh has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dhaka to hire some 120, 000 workers in a year from Bangladesh.

The deal was struck Tuesday night after a visiting 19-member Saudi team, led by Ahmed Bin Fahad Al Fuhaid, deputy minister for the Muslim Kingdom’s Labor Ministry, held official talks with Bangladeshi Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain and other relevant government officials.

Bangladeshi officials said 800 Saudi Riyals (about 213 U.S. dollars) will be the minimum salary of domestic helpers, but the minimum wages for eleven other professions were yet to be fixed.

Minister Hossain had earlier said some 10,000 Bangladeshis will find employment in Saudi Arabia every month.

Fuhaid told reporters that Saudi Arabia issued around 1.3 million new visas last year for recruiting foreign workers.

“We still need many workers,” he said after signing the deal.

There are more opportunities for Bangladeshis to get new employment in Saudi Arabia, he added.

Currently some 1.3 million Bangladeshis are living and working in Saudi Arabia, he noted, adding that there are more opportunities for Bangladeshis to secure new employment in Saudi Arabia.