Dhaka: Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain on Monday said Qatar will recruit 1.5 lakh more workers from Bangladeshi this year without migration fee.

The minister said this at a press briefing at the ministry over his recent visit to Qatar. A 6-member delegation, led by Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, visited the country from February 23 to 27.

“The Qatar government has approved visas of 50,000 Bangladeshi workers in the last two months, and we’ll be able to send 1.5 lakh more workers to the country this year,” he said.

During a meeting with minister for Labour and Social Affairs Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi of Qatar, he said they would recruit more workers for implementing different development projects ahead of World Cup 2022, said the minister.

Over the migration cost, Khandker Mosharraf said, “Usually, it takes Tk 3-4 lakh for migration to Qatar, but now workers will be sent to the country at zero cost as the recruiting companies concerned will bear the migration expenses of the workers and the fees of the recruiting agencies.”

He said the recruiting companies concerned will inform the government about their requirement through the embassy and then the government will select workers from its database.

Replying to a question, he said the 50,000 workers who have already got visa will be sent to the Arab country by the next 2-3 months.