ABU DHABI // A UAE government visa office has opened in Dhaka, in what many believe could signal and end to a three-year deadlock for workers’ moving to the UAE from Bangladesh.
Visas for Bangladeshis have not been issued for the past three years, except to women coming to work in domestic positions.
Three years ago, Bangladeshis arrived in droves of 40,000 a month. However, that number has since gone down to almost nothing. Bangladeshi ambassador to the UAE Muhammad Imran thanked the UAE Government for opening the new visa office last week, saying it could serve about 600 people a day.
The procedures will save on costs of recruitment, quarantine and deportation and improve customer services, he said.
Mr Imran was hopeful the visa situation would soon change.
“Things are moving in a positive direction and negotiations are underway between both countries,” the ambassador said.
“We are told that we have to wait for few more months,” Mr Imran said. He did not want to speculate on dates, but hoped that next year would open up new avenues for his people in the UAE.
“Currently, visas are only issued to female domestic help, but we hope that other categories will start getting this soon,” Mr Imran said.
There are about 700,000 Bangladeshis living in the UAE.
The ambassador said that his people are nowadays moving to countries like Oman, Singapore and Malaysia. “Our people are law-abiding and we have large numbers of professionals who are suitable for the UAE markets.”
According to state news agency Wam: “The new visa issuing centre of the Ministry of Foreing Affairs serves more than 600 people every day and uses passport authentication and biometrics such as fingerprints, eye prints and face prints.”
Ahmed Elham Al Dhaheri, assistant under-secretary for consular affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was also present at the opening.
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.