Eid Prayer at Barcelona, Spain. Photo: DazzlingDawn[/caption] Remittance fighters play a major role in the economic development of Bangladesh. Their Eid is spent far away from their families. However, there is no end to their sorrow even on the occasion of Eid. None of the expatriates living in Europe-America get a holiday on Eid. By no means, for restaurant workers. They have to work full day except for the time of prayer on Eid day.

Nevertheless, the surprising thing is that all the Bangladeshi-owned companies in Britain or Europe also employ workers on Eid. Due to this, they have to abandon the joy of Eid and stick to the struggle for bread and sustenance. A statistic of 2021 showed that 4 lakh 56 thousand immigrants live in Europe and 2 lakh 13 thousand in the United States. After the corona pandemic, when the whole world was in economic crisis, many countries started issuing visas.

According to experts, several lakhs of Bangladeshis have migrated to Europe-America after Corona. Sajib, Zakaria, Mohsin, Nadeem, restaurant workers living in Britain said that restaurants remained open for the whole year in Britain and closed only on Christmas Day. They added that they did not mind working on Christmas, and demanded holiday on Eid.

Saifullah Hasan, a journalist from the United Arab Emirates, said, “After coming to the diaspora, Eid is not like Eid. There is only work . Some people get a holiday on Eid, some do not. Everyone can take time for themselves when they get a holiday. Moreover, they can communicate with family, relatives, friends. However, there is no opportunity to celebrate Eid.”

Expatriate journalist Mehedi Hasan Maruf said, “ Many expatriates face various problems with the holiday on Eid. First of all, the French take 1 month vacation every year, so they pay a little bit from their salary for this 1 month vacation. However, in this case, Bangladeshis express reluctance. Secondly, there are public holidays for their festivals, but we do not have holiday for Eid festival. For example, my friend was facing such a problem. On last Eid-ul-Fitr, he did not get leave even though he had paid leave. It is also seen that many Bengali owners do not allow holidays on Eid day since it is not a French festival, so other businesses are open. The owners keep the shop open in tune with other business establishments.

Mohammad Mubin Khan, a journalist based in Spain, said, "Eid holiday abroad is like a dream. Normal people who work in Spain may not get a holiday on this day because Eid holiday is not stated on the official holiday list. However, those who are our Bengali businessmen also do not allow leave. Many businessmen do not even want to compromise Eid holidays with other holidays. As if they do not know Eid. However, the list of Bengali businessmen in Spain is very long. Those who work in different organizations have to share some parts of Eid prayer with their colleagues on the day of Eid. That is totally disappointing. It can be said that on the day of Eid, expatriates spend their days in anger rather than joy.

Farhad Hossain Tipu, the leader of the Malik organization in Britain, said, "Eid is not a public holiday in Britain. Efforts have been underway for several years to declare the day Of Eid as public holiday. If that demand is implemented, the restaurant owners will also be forced to allow leave on Eid day.”