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Even after 14 months, Zayed Hossain, a committed worker under South Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS), has failed to return to his workplace due to an indefinite ban on visa issuance by the East Asian country.
Zayed, who returned home on June 16, 2020, for three months after completing his fixed visa tenure, is one of 1,974 workers who have been waiting for South Korea’s withdrawal of the indefinite ban for Bangladesh migrants.
According to EPS workers, any citizen aged 18 to 39 years can go to South Korea for work after submitting documents through BOESL. If the worker stays at the company for five years, the worker becomes a committed worker. These committed workers can join the same company after a three-month stay in their homeland.
According to Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), 21,933 Bangladeshi workers went to South Korea under EPS through the G2G system after the two countries signed an agreement in 2008. But, South Korea imposed an embargo on EPS workers on June 23, 2020, on allegations of fake Covid-19 negative certificates.
However, returnee migrants blamed the negligence of Bangladesh Embassy officials in South Korea for failing to negotiate the withdrawal of the visa embargo.
“Workers from India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Pakistan have already joined their workplaces in South Korea, but Bangladeshi workers are stuck due to the negligence of embassy officials,” Zayed told The Business Post.
“As per the company’s policy, I came back to Bangladesh for a three-month stay after working for four years and 10 months. I was asked to join the company after my vacation. But, unfortunately, I could not go back even after 14 months,” he added.
Zayed said that among Bangladeshi EPS workers, 862 are committed workers while the rest are new. “All of us have valid documents provided to us by the BOSEL. However, Korean authorities imposed a ban on Bangladeshi workers after they found some workers had used fake ‘Covid-19 negative certificates’ while entering the country,” he said.
At first, S Korea designated 16 hospitals for coronavirus tests from Bangladesh. Many of these hospitals were removed from the list by the East Asian country on allegations of producing fake certificates in exchange for bribes.
“South Korea is now taking EPS workers from all 16 countries except Bangladesh. We submitted our passports to BOSEL and they asked us to wait,” he said.
The indefinite ban on visa issuance and flight operations from Bangladesh was lifted after eight months on February 8, which was reinstated on April 5 following allegations of fake Covid negative certificates.
“We urge the government to solve these issues so that we can go back to our workplaces. As a committed worker in a manufacturing company, I might lose my job if I can’t go back soon. The issue has made my future uncertain,” Zayed said.
Talking to The Business Post, Zohirul Islam, who was approved as a new worker by BOESL, said that his work contract expired as he failed to join work in South Korea in time due to these complications.
“Now that my work contract has been cancelled, I will have to reapply to BOESL for a new contract under EPS,” he added.
BOESL General Manager (Overseas Employment) Banani Biswas said they regularly communicate with South Korean authorities to reopen visa services.
“Everything now depends on South Korean authorities. We are optimistic that the embargo will be withdrawn soon,” she added.
On the issue of fake Covid-19 negative certificates, she said, “We are not aware of this fake certificate issue. The South Korean embassy
asked us to remove three hospitals from the approved list of Covid-19 testing facilities. We followed their directives and announced the new approved hospital list.”
The BOESL official added, “The visa issue and appointment of those who lost jobs due to the pandemic depend on the South Korean authorities.”
The South Korean Embassy in Dhaka did not reply to a request for comment.
