Staff Reporter :
Though the bar on sending workers to Malaysia has been lifted, the recruiting agencies have again locked in a brawl with the government saying that it was tipping the balance to a syndicate to grab the manpower market.
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) on Monday alleged that one minister and three MPs are indirectly involved with the syndicate of 25 recruiting agencies that would send workers to Malaysia.
BAIRA brought the allegation at a press conference in the Jatiya Press Club in the capital, with its President Dr Mohammed Faruque in the chair.
The body asserted that the syndicate cannot breach the rules and regulations without the aegis of the government because the 25 recruiting agencies of the syndicate are charging additional money from the expected workers to Malaysia.
The government has fixed the expenditure of sending workers to Malaysian labour market Tk78,990, but the alleged syndicate is charging three to four lakh taka from each probable worker, BAIRA alleged.
BAIRA demanded the government’s interference into illegal activities of the syndicate in order to save the poor workers and to save the image of the country.
The body also demanded cancellation of the licences of the alleged recruiting agencies which were swindling the workers.
Placing a 10-point demand to the government, BAIRA urged the government to open the Malaysian market for the valid recruiting agencies.
“The immigration cost of manpower export through the syndicate will increase several times. We could not send manpower of the desired number. We fear the Malaysian market may be closed to such irregularities,” Mohammed Faruque, in a written statement, said.
“Sending of manpower through syndicate will damage the competitive market and stands against the spirit of the local and international laws because we have Competition Act 2012 and Bangladesh is a signatory to ILO charter,” he mentioned.
BAIRA has placed the 10 points demand to remove the obstacles on the way to manpower exports.
The demands include the amendment of Article C (5) of the Appendix of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Bangladesh and Malaysian government on 19 December 2021, opening the labour markets including Malaysia and Libya for all legal agencies, closing the FWCMS software used for manpower export, cancellation or amendment of the SOP adopted in JWG meeting on June 2, cancellation of the opening of the FWCMS offices at embassy, BMET and the Ministry, and cancellation of the licences of the syndicate which had selected expected workers and done medical tests without ministry permission.
Among others, Riazul Islam, Mostafa Mahmud, Golam Mostafa Babul, Abdul Alim, Arifur Rahman and Mainuddin Titas, spoke on the occasion.
