A total of 24 Bangladeshi women, who remained captive illegally by a recruiting agency in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were rescued recently.
The Bangladesh embassy in the kingdom rescued the women from Arar city, nearly 1,100 kilometres (km) away from Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh, with the help of Saudi law enforcers.
Currently, 24 women are undergoing treatment at the Saudi Female Deportation Centre. The Saudi Arabian authorities have taken initiative to send those women to Bangladesh quickly, reports BSS citing a statement.
Ambassador of Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia Mohammad Javed Patwary also directed the Labour Welfare Wing to send them back to Bangladesh as soon as possible.
According to the Labour Welfare Wing, a Saudi recruiting agency named 'Maqtab Taowasul Alsari' took the women there illegally through a Bangladesh recruiting agency named 'M/S Anwar overseas' and held them captive instead of sending them to the workplaces of Saudi employers.
Later, all the connections between the women from their native homes were disconnected. Even, if any woman fell sick due to insufficient food and safe water, they were not provided treatment.
The concerned Saudi agency also obstructed the officials of the embassy while they wanted to visit the spot and inspect the condition of the women.
The Saudi recruiting agency was shut down after filing a case.