Anxiety gripped the Saudi-bound migrant workers as they were facing complexities over their flights following the new regulations of hotel quarantine introduced by the Arab country recently.
During a visit to the Saudi Airlines office premises in the city's Kawranbazar area on Saturday noon, many of the workers were seen waiting in long queues to confirm their flights as well as hotel booking.
Many workers whose flights were scheduled one or two weeks later, also visited the Airline's office to remove their confusion.
On the other hand, travel agents also were confused about the system of hotel booking for workers as they got no concrete information from the airlines. So, they stopped selling air tickets.
Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) secretary general Mazharul H Bhuiyan said, except Saudi Airlines, they were yet to get any circular from the other airliners about the quarantine.
Moreover, they were not informed about the refund policy of hotel booking. Flights could be cancelled any time. If the refund policy of hotel booking was not applicable, workers would lose money, he added.
"We are waiting to get necessary direction about hotel quarantine from the airlines," he added.
Saudi Arabia has announced that the travellers from foreign countries will have to follow mandatory quarantine when they arrive in Saudi Arabia, starting from May 20.
As per instructions of the Saudi Airlines, the passengers who got two shots of the vaccine against Covid-19 and at least two weeks passed since the second shot was received will not need any hotel booking for quarantine. Rather, they will be staying in home quarantine for a week after reaching the kingdom.
Sector insiders said, additional Tk 30,000-60,000 would be needed for availing quarantine facilities for each of the workers in Saudi Arabia.
Airlines will take the rent of hotels with ticket fare. Currently, the air ticket fare is varying from Tk 70,000 to Tk 80,000 each.
Therefore, the workers will have to spend more than Tk 500,000 each as migration cost. Currently, a worker spends Tk 350,000 to 450,000 on a job in the Arab country, they said.
As new rules regarding hotel quarantine after reaching Saudi came into effect, many passengers were in a fix, said Md Monirul Islam.
"Many of us don't know what to do now since the hotel quarantine requires additional expense of Tk 60,000-Tk 70,000," said Mr Islam who has been working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for more than three decades.
The plane fare also increased substantially, he said and added that the Saudi government also tightened the rules regarding health insurance there.
Many were found waiting on the premises of Saudi Airlines with their bag and baggage since early morning.
A group of migrant workers arrived in Dhaka from Cox's Bazar on Saturday morning as flights were scheduled for 2:00 on Sunday.
"Even with tickets confirmed, we are perplexed about the complexities related to hotel quarantine," said Joynul Abedin.
It had been very difficult to manage the money for hotel booking from here as the charge was too high for many, he said.
Manpower recruiters said they did not want to send workers with such a high migration cost. It was a too high charge for a worker -- workers would not be interested to travel by paying this charge.
If employers bore the cost of quarantine, workers at least could get relief from the extra burden of expense, said Ali Haider Chowdhury, former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).
He also said because of the new regulations implemented by the Saudi government, the outflow of workers to the oil-rich country remained almost halted currently.
It was a big blow to the overseas employment sector as Saudi Arabia remained the largest job destination for Bangladeshi workers; he said. The government should take immediate steps to resolve the problem, he added.
However, Bangladesh has been continuing special flights to Saudi Arabia to carry workers since April 17 following the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
Saudi Arabia is a vital market that has hired more than 4.2 million Bangladeshis since 1976.
