Free Medical Help for Bangladeshis

RIYADH, 24 June 2007 — The Bangladeshi Embassy here has opened a free medical clinic staffed by 20 voluntary doctors to provide medical help to Bangladeshi male workers.

“The clinic will provide free consultations to Bangladeshi male workers in the Kingdom,” S.M. Ikramul Haque, Bangladeshi ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News yesterday. He added that a team of 20 doctors has volunteered to serve at the clinic. The doctors will operate on a rota-basis and the clinic will be open between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. every Friday.

Ambassador Haque said that the clinic is aimed mainly at male workers who have no access to medical help. “Although, medical insurance has become mandatory in the Kingdom, there is still a section of expatriates yet to come under the scheme,” he said, hoping the clinic will make the Bangladeshi workers feel at home since they will be treated by their countrymen and will also face no language barrier.

The envoy said that the Sri Lankan Expatriates’ Society (SLES) in Riyadh, which has been operating a similar clinic for the past 13 years, inspired him to set the free medical clinic. “This is one good area we can serve our own people in an effective manner,” he said.

An estimated 1 million Bangladeshis currently work in the Kingdom with 300,000 living in the Central Province. The majority are unskilled workers.

Haque also said that the Bangladeshi mission’s consular services have been fully automated. “This would ensure speedy services, transparency and accountability,” the envoy said, pointing out that around 350 people visit the embassy daily for passport renewals, new passports, attestations and entry visas to Bangladesh.

He added that the automated service would also easily detect any discrepancies such as the issuing of duplicate passports to existing passport holders. Haque said that the mission had asked for various official documents to substantiate loss of passports in the Kingdom.

“A new passport will be issued only if the applicant can support his case properly,” he stressed.