The Bangladesh government said it was awaiting confirmation of media reports about the impending Mauritian decision.

Meanwhile, Reza Uteem, a Mauritian lawyer defending the interest of the foreign workers, called his government's decision 'irrational' and 'in breach of the human right declarations' to which Mauritius is a signatory, reported African News.

Ally Faizal Beegun, Chair of Textile Manufacturers and Allied Workers Union in Mauritius, asked the country's Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam to consider the humanitarian aspect of the decision, as well as the country's textile industry's survival.

'A number of those workers are ready to commit suicide instead of going back home empty handed,' he said, adding that most of them have not even been paid for six months.

About 20,000 foreigners from many countries including China, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka work in the textile and clothing industries of Mauritius, The Daily Star newspaper said.