Staff Reporter :
Country’s international recruiting agencies rejected to take the responsibilities of anomalies in sending Bangladeshi migrants to Malaysia during the period of 2006-2008 and demanded to reopen the market for all Bangladeshi valid recruiting agencies instead of any syndicate to ensure ‘zero migration cost’.
“Bangladeshi recruiting agencies had sent huge number of migrants during the period of 2006 to 2008. It’s true that some anomalies were found during the period. But, It is not only the responsibility of Bangladeshi agencies. Without approval of the Malaysian authorities, there is no scope of sending a migrant there. If additional workers were sent, the responsibility goes to the Malaysian authorities,” Abul Bashar, former president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) and organizer of BAIRA Anti-Syndicate Grand Alliance said on Saturday at a press conference.
The alliance organized the press conference at a city hotel in Dhaka to press their demands including opening the most important ‘South Asian Foreign Worker’ market allowing all agencies instead of any syndicate to ensure ‘zero cost’ migrant sending and prestigious migration of the Bangladeshi workers.
Among others, former BAIRA Secretary General valiant freedom fighter Ali Haider Chowdhury, former vice-president Shahadat Hossain, former Secretary General Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former finance secretaries Fakhrul Islam and Mizanur Rahman and president of Recruiting Agencies Oikya Parishad Tipu Sultan also spoke the programme.
“Showing the only reason, the market cannot be awarded to the syndicate. In last 14 years from 2008 to 2022, almost 98 percent of Bangladeshi agencies have been deprived of sending migrants to the country. Only a few agencies have been sending workers there. It should be stopped to ensure that the migrants are getting facilities of overseas jobs at a ‘zero migration cost’,” Bashar said, adding, “The proposal of the Malaysian Human Resources Minister to hire Bangladeshis through with the syndicate is unethical.
He said, “In the proposal the Malaysian minister said that it would allow 25 agencies and 250 sub-agents for sending workers. The proposal is against the spirit of Competition Act and International Migration Law and Fair Recruitment. The Malaysian Recruiting Agencies Association has also requested the governments of the two countries not to approve the syndicate and allowing all agencies like other 13 migrant sending resource countries.”
“The decision of syndication would also interrupt implementation of the Prime Minister’s announcement to send at least 1,000 migrants from all upazilas. It would also lower the countries ranking of ‘The Trafficking in Person (TIP)’ of USA as it would create scope further human trafficking,” he added.
In the press conference, the leaders have also demanded reopening the market quickly announcing the migration fees as the JWG had already met in its meeting in Dhaka.
