Reza Mahmud :
Thousands of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia are in peril due to lack of legal documents and scarcity of work following the pandemic.
Sources said, about 15 to 20 lakh illegal immigrants are now staying in Malaysia where most of them are Indonesians.
The second largest number of illegal workers are from Bangladesh.
About four lakhs of Bangladeshi workers are working in the country without legal documents, while over five lakh Bangladeshi migrants are working there legally.
Malaysian government has intensified drive against the illegal workers since late July and so far has detained several hundred illegal foreign workers including about 200 Bangladeshis.
Sources from Bangladeshi migrants in Kuala Lumpur said many of them had sent to the country by human traffickers instead of legal recruiting agencies.
Though, they have spent huge amount of money that is much more than the government stipulated amount but fell in sufferings untold for being illegal migrants. As per the government’s rule, every Malaysia bound worker has to cost Tk 1,50,000 only.
But the recruiting agencies and their local agents are collecting more than Tk five lakh from every migrant.
Besides, many legal workers became illegal after changing their work places and job sector in the country.
The Malysian government had started Repatriation Recalibration Programme for illegal foreign workers there in November 2020.
The country sent back more than 90,000 undocumented migrants to their home countries under the programme asking them to return on priority basis to Kuala Lumpur after bringing legal documents from their own country. But most of the undocumented migrants are yet to apply through the programme due to the ongoing pandemic.
Meanwhile, the authority has launched a drive against all undocumented workers.
The drive makes thousands of undocumented Bangladeshi workers’ fate uncertain.
Sohag Mia from Narsingdi district, is one of those undocumented Bangladeshis living in Jalan Ipoh, in Kuala Lumpur. He said, about 10 of them arrived last year in Kuala Lumpur through a little known local agent of Narayangonj. “After arriving here, we understood that the agent has given us false documents and we are undocumented,” said Shohagh Mian.
He said that they started working illegally due to the poor condition in the home country. Even, thousands of migrants have also returned from other countries during pandemic.
Besides, lots of documented workers are also in uncertain condition in Malaysia due to the strict lockdown there. Most of them have no work, no earnings but staying there due to their poor financial conditions in Bangladesh.
When contacted, Md. Shohidul Alam, Director General of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) told The New Nation, “We have asked the foreign ministry to help our migrants in Malaysia through embassy. They assured us to look after the matter seriously.”
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh embassy of Kuala Lumpur has opened three hotlines to help vulnerable Bangladeshis there from Saturday.
Sources said, about four lakh migrant workers have returned country from several countries during the coronavirus pandemic worldwide.
