Khaleej Times
Khaleej Times: Yunus urges Bangladeshi workers to abide by rules and regulations in force in SaudiJEDDAH — The situation of foreigners living and working in any country other than their own is always a tough one and gets touchy depending on the situation, especially when unemployment in the host country increases and crime rate rises, not necessarily because of joblessness.
But then, they do bear the brunt of the unemployment predicament. As for crime, the focus falls on one community or the other.
These days, a question many Bangladeshis ask of a media person here is whether things will get tougher for them, as their quota is to be cut. There are reports in local media about their iqamas (work permits) not being renewed.
The media is full of stories about crimes committed by Bangladeshis, which has raised a scare. Few people have come forward to give an explanation, let alone defend them. During a reception hosted by the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Jeddah, on Sunday, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof Muhammad Yunus said that it was not fair to single out a single community because any person can turn to crime.
Yunus stressed the strong relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, and urged Bangladeshi workers to abide by rules and regulations in force in the kingdom.
Earlier, Yunus addressed the 9th Jeddah Economic Forum that concluded here on Tuesday. Speaking during the session with the theme 'from boom to prosperity', Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank that is empowering the poor with microcredit (small amounts of collateral free loans), said that if poverty is to be eradicated the poor should be given an opportunity to grow and be self-reliant.
He said that the unfair economic system and not the poor should be blamed for the widespread poverty, which is a global phenomenon and not restricted to just the developing countries.
Stressing the importance of education, he said the King Saud University's (KSU) offer for 50 scholarships to Bangladeshi students to come here and study, was a welcome step. It may be noted that the KSU has established a research chair in the name of Yunus.
Fayez A. Al Ghamdi, assistant professor of English at KSU's College of Arts, explained that the university decided to establish the research chair as part of its R&D programme. He added that there will be 15 international scholarships under his name. The Nobel laureates will serve as part-time faculty members at KSU, where they will make their own contribution to various programmes at the university.
He said the research programme was set up almost six months ago and was intended to forge strategic alliances with prestigious international scholars.
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