Dhaka, May 20 -- Thousands of Bangladeshi workers staying abroad without proper documents risk being deported, due in part to coronavirus pandemic in countries that host them, according to insiders in the manpower export sector.
They said the number of illegal workers in different countries could be between 600,000 (0.6 million) and 700,000 (0.7 million).
Half of them are staying in Saudi Arabia alone. Factors like so-called free visa, overstaying and cheating by manpower recruiters have made the workers undocumented, they said.
The situation has prompted crackdown on irregular workers. About 35,000 Bangladeshi undocumented workers have been sent back in the last two months.
A good number of workers, now stranded in Kuwait, the United A...