Bangladeshis in the Middle East

In 2007, Bangladeshi workers obtained the biggest share, with 23.50 per cent of the 1.5 million Saudi Arabia visas issued.

The introduction of Islam to the people of Bengal region in the Indian subcontinent has generated a connection to the Arabian Peninsula, as Muslims are required to visit the land once in their lifetime to complete the Hajj pilgrimage.

Several Bengali sultans funded Islamic institutions in the Hejaz, which popularly became known by the Arabs as Bangali Madaris.

[3] Migrant labour in the region, from which Bangladeshi citizens form a sizable minority, are brought in through the kafala system, which provides employment-based visas and bars workers from attaining longer-term residency.

Like other Asian expatriates, Bangladeshi citizens have sought work in the region primarily to send remittances back to their families and share little in common culturally with their host societies.