Saudi airlines says it can't assist migrant returnees with hotel bookings

Sufferings of Saudi-bound Bangladeshi expatriate workers centering hotel booking for institutional quarantine reached its climax as Saudi Arabian Airlines announced that they won't be able to facilitate migrant workers from now on regarding hotel bookings.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines which will resume its flight to Saudi Arabia from May 29 after nine days suspension in its directives also said it is the migrant workers who will have to complete the procedure of hotel booking through specific websites.

Many migrant workers were seen wandering helplessly at the Saudi Arabian Airlines' office at city's Karwanbazar and at the Dhaka Airport about their hotel booking but found no designated persons to offer them help.

Talking to this correspondent, they said the airlines are avoiding their responsibility through asking expatriate workers to complete the hotel booking process.

"Due to serious complexities in hotel booking, many migrant workers might fail to go to Saudi Arabia on time. In that case visas of many migrant workers might expire," Fakhrul Islam, former finance secretary, Baira and president of Recruiting Agency Welfare Organization of Bangladesh, told The Daily Star.

Tipu Sultan, President, Recruiting Agency Oikya Parishad demanded that the Expatriates' Welfare Ministry come forward to assist the country's remittance earning workers in booking hotels.

Several thousand Saudi-bound Bangladeshi migrant workers have been facing troubles due to the new travel advisory of Saudi Arabia that requires medical insurance that covers the risk of Covid-19 infections and hotel reservations for seven days of institutional quarantine.

The Saudi authority said violators shall be deported from the country and banned from entering indefinitely into the nation.

After the issuance of fresh travel advisory that came into effect from May 20, Saudi Arabian Airlines assisted the Saudi-bound workers to book hotels until May 24.

On May 25, the airlines authorities hanged a notice at different points of the office premises and also informed the Saudi-bound migrant workers that from now on they will have to complete the hotel booking process on their own by using specific apps.

In its directives, Saudia asked all Saudi Arabia-bound Bangladeshi workers to book hotels for quarantine stays through the airline's holiday website.

According to the Saudia directives, all Saudi-bound Bangladeshis will have to confirm their quarantine hotel a minimum of 72 hours before their flight departure through the Saudia Holidays website https://holidaysbysaudia.com