Bangladesh's three diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia are struggling to serve around 3.5 million Bangladeshis living and working in the kingdom, with the foreign ministry citing severe manpower shortages as a major challenge.
The ministry informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that existing staff numbers were inadequate to handle consular services, labour and welfare issues, trade and other needs of expatriates.
The issue was raised at the committee's third meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban today (25 October).
According to the meeting brief, the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh handles bilateral relations, labour and welfare, trade, press, defence, economic affairs, and passport and visa services. It has 14 officers under the ambassador.
The Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah, which provides consular services, handles labour and welfare matters, commercial activities and Hajj management, and has around 22 officers. The Permanent Mission to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), also in Jeddah, has just one officer under the permanent representative.
"The current number of officers at the missions is extremely limited compared with the number of expatriate Bangladeshis and the volume of services and labour and welfare-related matters they need to handle," the meeting brief said.
Following the meeting, Jahrat Adib Chowdhury, chair of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told journalists that the committee had questioned why the consulate had not been informed earlier and whether there had been any lapse or negligence on the part of the officials concerned.
"Given Bangladesh's good relations with Saudi Arabia, why were we not informed earlier?" he said, adding that the incident had exposed weaknesses in the system.
Referring to information shared 14 days before the execution, Jahrat said, "They admitted that no one had actually identified the report as such."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the parliamentary committee that officials had assumed the prisoners listed in the information exchange would face jail terms ranging from six months to 15 years. They had not realised that the cases could result in death sentences.
The ministry has sought answers to several questions from Saudi Arabia and has been asked to share the responses with the parliamentary committee once they are received.
The committee has also requested a report on whether the consulate was negligent, what action has been taken if any negligence is established, and what steps are being taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Jahrat also highlighted the scale of abuse faced by Bangladeshi female migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, saying the ministry had presented data showing that around 169,000 Bangladeshi women were currently working there.
Authorities ask workers about their welfare when they visit to collect their passports, while third-party surveys are also conducted. According to the ministry, 1,364 female domestic workers have been rescued and safely repatriated.
The ministry estimates that 1–2% of female workers in Saudi Arabia experience abuse. Jahrat, however, said the figure should not be dismissed as small.
"People may consider 1–2% a small proportion, but 1,364 rescued workers is not acceptable," he said, adding that the committee had instructed the ministry to take steps to bring such incidents down to zero.
Bangladesh began sending workers to Saudi Arabia in 1976, deepening the two countries' labour market ties. The kingdom remains a leading destination for Bangladeshi workers and a major source of remittances.
Bangladesh Bank data show that remittances from Saudi Arabia reached $5.8491 billion in the 2025-26 fiscal year, up 37.2% from $4.2644 billion a year earlier.
According to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, around 3.5 million Bangladeshis currently live and work in Saudi Arabia. A record 752,715 Bangladeshi workers went to the kingdom in 2025, the highest number sent to any single country that year.
The missions' capacity is therefore crucial to ensuring expatriates can access passport and visa services, labour rights assistance and welfare support.
Two Bangladeshis executed, 306 in Saudi prisons
The meeting also comes amid concerns over the treatment of Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities executed Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Sweety Akter in Mecca on 14 October, over alleged immoral activities at a mosque.
However, a letter sent by the Bangladesh Consulate General to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment on 18 October said Nazrul was arrested on 1 August 2023 on cybercrime allegations, while Sweety was detained the following day on an adultery allegation.
Their names appeared on a list of prisoners sent by Saudi authorities on 30 September, but it did not mention their executions. The consulate said Saudi authorities had not informed it beforehand about the death sentences or their execution. Bangladesh has sought details of the verdicts, charges and judicial proceedings.
The letter also reported that 306 Bangladeshis were held in prisons across western Saudi Arabia, including 147 serving sentences ranging from one month to 15 years.
At the 25 October meeting, the committee also discussed the foreign ministry's strategy to counter alleged propaganda and misleading campaigns by the ousted Awami League government.
The committee was also due to be briefed on Sheikh Hasina's stay in India, efforts to secure her return to Bangladesh, and steps to bring back suspects in the murder of Osman Hadi. The ministry's support for Bangladesh's candidate in the election for an Asia-Pacific seat on the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was also discussed.