RE: [ALOCHONA] Bahrain Gulf News - Bahrain & Bangladeshis

Dear Mr. Chowdhury:

Appreciate your comments. However, in my opinion we should refrain from automatically dipping into the conspiracy/sectarian mode when something unpleasant happens. It does not increase our understanding of the problem, it only ends up as meaningless sloganeering.

There may indeed be people who want to take the jobs that workers from Bangladesh do. This is a globalized world which is wracked by inequality and extreme poverty. The people (Burmese or Indian or wherever) trying to take their jobs are also poor and desperate.

Even though murder in the case is unconscionable and cannot be defended, we can get clues from the original newstory as to what might have transpired. There was a dispute of Bahraini Dinar 1.50 demanded by the killer and BDinar 1.0 offered by victim. The amounts are not large so one has to ask why someone would kill for this.

Is their a history of discrimation in Bahrain? (I dont know but its treatment of its Shia minority cannot be called exemplary by any means)

Are Bengalis (previously known as meek & submissive)  a butt of discrimation because they are more enterprising and have managed to eke out some independent life.

Is it fair to tarnish all jobseekers and Bengalis in particular because of these cases. Nevertheless they have occurred and we should try to understand what gave cause to it, etc

How do we stop it? Collective action with other job seekers in redressing grievances or individually appealing to Gulf Rulers to take pity and

These are some important questions and insights I was hoping would ignite when I posted the story.

Incidentally today the Bahrain Govt have stopped issuing visas to people from Bangladesh See http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/10216670.html

1.5 Bahraini Dinar = 3.98947

US Dollar 1 Bahraini Dinar = 2.65965 US Dollar

Source: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic

Thank you for your patience and apologies If I have inadvertently offended you.

Robin Khundkar

-----Original Message-----
From: Nilkanto Chowdhury
Sent: May 27, 2008 6:51 AM
To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [ALOCHONA] Bahrain Gulf News - Bahrain & Bangladeshis

There are people who are working against Bangladeshi in Middle East so that they can ruin Bangladeshi job market there and get benifite from that. Our government and people should speak up about that. Please be aware of that kind of people and media. Well, people from all nations are doing nusty things. We don't blame the full nation for that, do we? Why then Bangladeshi? --- On Mon 05/26, Robin Khundkar < rkhundkar@earthlink.net > wrote: From: Robin Khundkar [mailto: rkhundkar@earthlink.net] To: undisclosed-recipients Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 16:33:58 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [ALOCHONA] Bahrain Gulf News - Bahrain & Bangladeshis This is really bad news. A hysteria seems to be rising againsts workers from Bangladesh. Though murder cannot be justified under any circumstances but does anyone know what happened that led to this tragic crime or the general perception that all Bengalis are prone to crimes. I have heard that employers mistreat workers and withhold their hard earned salaries, etc. Robin Bahrain government urged to stop hiring Bangladeshis http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/05/26/10216119.html 05/26/2008 11:50 PM | By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief Manama: Decisions on hiring of Bangladeshi workers would have to be made by various official bodies, said a labour official as pressure mounted on the Bahraini government to halt the hiring of Bangladeshis. Several Bahrainis, including journalists and a parliamentary bloc, have called upon the authorities not to allow Bangladeshis to work in the kingdom following the murder of a 38-year-old Bahraini at a garage on Friday. Mohammad Hassan Al Dossary, a father of three daughters, was killed by Bangladeshi worker Mohammad, also a father of two daughters living with their mother in their native village, following an argument. The mechanic allegedly attacked Al Dossary using a grinder before fleeing the scene, according to his sponsor, to hide in a mosque several kilometres away before he was arrested. The murder revived calls made last year to take stringent measures against Bangladeshis following the killing of a Bahraini woman by her cook. Monitoring "Such a decision is not just about cancelling work permits by the Labour Ministry, but involves several other government bodies. There is a close monitoring of all events that helps understand the general orientation of the labourers and their adaptation to the character of the Bahraini society," Jameel A! l Humaidan, Labour Ministry Undersecretary, said yesterday. Al Asala, the second largest parliamentary bloc, called for a timetable to deport Bangladeshis, saying that they represented a threat to social peace and stability. "We are shocked by the number and frequency of the murders and crimes perpetrated by this community, and the government should act promptly to deport those who are now in Bahrain and to stop issuing any new permits," Al Asala said. "We will soon submit a motion to the parliament to force the government to end the hiring of Bangladeshis because of their aggressive and tense character," the Islamist bloc said. Several columnists called for the "immediate and irrevocable" deportation of Bangladeshis, warning that failure to take action would mean more hostile behaviour. However, the head of Al Meethaq Society, Ahmad Juma, rejected the calls, saying that Bangladesh should not be punished for the crimes by some of its citizens. Bahraini blogger calls for ban on all Bangladeshis after horrible murder http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/05/25/10215875.html 05/24/2008 11:09 PM | By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief Manama: Bahrainis on Saturday called for a ban on the hiring of Bangladeshi workers, hours after the gruesome murder of a Bahraini father of three. "We have noticed that most of the crimes in this country are perpetrated by people coming from Bangladesh, and the wise thing to do is to stop bringing them to Bahrain," a Bahraini blogger wrote on a website. "We should have no mercy for the killer and ban other Bangladeshis from coming here out of fear of what they might do to us, exactly what Saudi Arabia and Kuwait did at one time." Similar calls against Bangladeshi labourers were made last year following the murder of Sana Al Jalahma, a Bahraini woman, by her 29-year-old Bangladeshi cook. The cook, angered by Al Jalahma's remarks, waited hours for her return home to kill her. The murderer was sentenced to death. However, political activist Ahmad Juma said while the calls to ban Bangladeshis were understandable because of the grisly character of the murder, a nation cannot be punished for the acts of some citizens. "We sympathise with the family and friends of the victim, but we cannot simply say that no Bangladeshi should be allowed in Bahrain because of this. The criminal should be punished, but the country did nothing wrong," he told Gulf News. Bahraini Mohammad Hassan Eisa Al Dossary was killed on Friday morning when a Bangladeshi mechanic attacked him with a grinder. Al Dossary, father of three daughters, wanted the mechanic to do some welding work on his car, but the two disagreed over the fee. Witnesses said their argument was over 500 fils (Dh5). The mechanic fled the garage in Hamad Town, 20 kilometres south of Manama, but was eventually arrested after he called his sponsor who alerted the police and guided them to his hideout. Bahrain is home to about 70,000 Bangladeshis.

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