ALTHOUGH Bangladesh is not a party to the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels of neighboring Yemen, the situation deals a severe blow to our manpower exports to the Middle East.
All flights from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia have been temporarily suspended due to successive missile and drone attacks by Houthi rebels on the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sunday.
Consequently, 27 Bangladeshis have fallen victim to casualties arising from this conflict. Among the 12 people killed and 309 injured in the Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, there were two Bangladeshis dead and 25 injured respectively.
Four of the injured are now reportedly undergoing treatment in the ICU in critical condition.
Meanwhile, three thousand Bangladeshi workers are seemingly stranded at home due to the massive disruption of flight schedules caused by Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia.
Numerous Bangladeshi expatriate workers are facing immense hardship at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka due to the flight suspension.
They are deeply anxious about their job loss being unable to reach their workplaces on time.
It is worth noting that a downward trend in manpower exports had been observed previously as well.
In the first two months of the current 2026-27 fiscal year, the number of workers going abroad declined by 76,946, or 36.47 percent, compared to the same period of the previous year.
During the April-June quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year, 160,283 workers went abroad.
Needless to say, this has pushed the remittance sector, one of the key driving forces of our economy, into a crisis. These issues require immediate resolution.
Bangladesh, in the meantime, has strongly condemned the attack. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the life-threatening attack targeting civilian infrastructure as unacceptable and demanded an immediate halt to such attacks.
It is to be noted that half of the casualties were Umrah pilgrims, while the other half were expatriate workers.
However, should attacks occur on Mecca and Medina, which house the two holiest mosques of Islam, Bangladesh would be compelled to stand against the attackers on religious grounds? Similarly, if Bangladeshis were to become casualties in barbaric attacks on civilian installations, there would be no alternative but to regard the Houthis as adversaries.
It is expected that both sides will exercise good sense to avert the ongoing conflict. For this, it is crucial to accelerate bilateral discussions to resolve the current discord.
Besides, on our part, establishing an emergency assistance and rehabilitation fund for affected expatriates is essential.