Malaysia agrees to recruit Bangladeshi workers

BANGLADESH NEWS

Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur in principle agreed recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia under government arrangements to reduce the cost of sending workers and end their abuses.

“Under this process, those seeking jobs in Malaysia will be registered with the government. Malaysia then will facilitate recruitments by their employers,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said at his ministry on Wednesday.

The minister, who returned from Malaysia early Wednesday, said under such arrangements, the cost of sending workers to Malaysia would not be more than Tk 50,000. However, if any employer bears the airfare, the cost would be limited to Tk 30,000 to 35,000.

The minister held meetings with Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam.

They all said they are very interested to recruit workers from Bangladesh, but want a totally transparent process where there will be no middlemen and migrants will not have to pay high cost to go there, Mosharraf Hossain said.

Stating that many of the irregular foreign workers in Malaysia were victims of human trafficking, he said, “Malaysia is very concerned about human trafficking. They want to improve their status.”

“Malaysian home minister clearly said it is the dajjals (brokers), both in Bangladesh and Malaysia, who are creating problems. They are embarrassed about it,” the minister said.

Mosharraf Hossain said 2.67 lakh Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia were irregular. It happened because they overstayed there to recover the money they spent to go there. The cost of going in Malaysia in 2007-08 was very high. Also, brokers used ill practices to hire workers more than required, which is why many were jobless and were on the streets, he noted.

He clarified that the government does not want to do business by sending workers to Malaysia, but at the same time it cannot sit idle if the private agencies and brokers create troubles for the workers that lead to exploitation.