The government has confirmed that there has been no ban on recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait in various categories but a temporary restriction is imposed on Visa20 category, better known as Khadim visa.

‘This is wrong reporting based on partial information published in foreign media,’ State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam, now on a visit to Kuwait, told UNB over phone on Tuesday citing reports run by a section of Bangladesh media.

He said a section of people violated the rules of Visa20 category and brought more than one person for single family, reports the UNB.

For this reason, the State Minister said, the visa for this particular category will remain restricted until further notice.

‘But visa for other categories remains open for Bangladeshi,’ he said.

The State Minister said the government is sincerely working to stop irregular migration. ‘We will help Kuwait government in this regard.’

‘We requested Kuwait government to issue family visa for people who are working for long time. They told us they will actively consider that,’ he said. He said he talked to Bangladesh community in Kuwait on Monday and gave necessary directives to work together to stop irregular migration.

The State Minister said there is no restriction for Visa18 (company visa and labour) and Visa17 (government offices) categories.

He said Visa18 category is the most widely used one.

Meanwhile, the State Minister held separate meetings with Deputy Foreign Minister of Kuwait Khaled Sulaiman Al-Jarallah and Chairman of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industries Ali Mohammed Thunayan Al-Ghanim.

They discussed various issues of mutual interest.

Kuwait started hiring Bangladeshi workers in 1976 and until 2007 around 480,000 workers were recruited, according to data available.

However, the Gulf state stopped recruiting Bangladeshi workers in 2007 after its authorities had detected irregularities in their recruitment process and involvement in illegal activities.

In 2014, Kuwait decided to lift the ban and allow Bangladeshis to work in the Gulf country.