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Some Saudi Arabia-bound migrant workers claim that they have been told to undergo institutional quarantine once they reach the kingdom even though they received the second doses of coronavirus vaccines in Bangladesh.
But an airport official said Saudi Arabia is allowing fully vaccinated travellers to enter the country.
At a public hearing of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) at the Dhaka airport on Monday, some migrants claimed that many Saudi-bound workers were turned back from the airport by airlines staff for not booking a hotel for quarantine in KSA.
CAAB arranged the hearing to address problems faced by migrants and passengers at the airport.
Expatriates said they received the first doses of Pfizer and Moderna in Saudi Arabia but had to return home amid the pandemic. They got the second jabs here.
Abdul Aziz from Chandpur said airlines staff told him that passengers who received one shot from KSA and another from Bangladesh must stay in quarantine.
But Dr Shahriar Sazzad, the health desk in-charge at the airport, told Aziz that the Saudi government withdrew this system. “Anyone can fly to the country if they get a double or complete dose from any country,” he said.
CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mofidur Rahman said they would talk to the Saudi government about the issue through the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
Meanwhile, several passengers said Air Arabia Airlines agents refused to re-issue their tickets that were cancelled due to the pandemic. They are not getting refunds either. This forced the passengers to spend an additional Tk 60,000 to Tk 70,000 to purchase new one-way tickets.
But a representative Air Arabia told the hearing that they don’t have refund policy for those tickets but can re-issue the cancelled ones.
Meanwhile, CAAB sources said 3,249 passengers left for the United Arab Emirates from the Dhaka airport since the RT-PCR labs started operation. Three of them tested positive for coronavirus.
