Staff Reporter :
A middleman was reportedly beaten in Bangladesh High Commission, Brunei for cheating Bangladeshi nationals.
A video was spread on the social media platform yesterday. But, foreign office in Dhaka did not confirm the matter.
It was alleged that labour market in Brunei has been controlling by a strong syndicate, who work in collaboration with Bangladesh brokers.
A DO letter of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry said that the labour market was in serious trouble due to the dominance of brokers.
The employment agencies in Brunei do not hire workers directly by issuing advertisement. Rather, they sell visas to the intermediaries who hire workers in exchange of huge amounts of money which the migrants must pay.
In 2018, about 75 per cent of Bangladeshi workers were illegally sent to Brunei by the brokers in collaboration with immigration police at the airport through so-called ‘body contracts’, said officials.
What is more worrying is that the several thousands of fake visas have been issued for the Bangladeshi workers fabricating official seals and documents of the Brunei immigrations and Labour Department, a letter mentioned referring to Brunei sources.
It said that the rackets of brokers along with corrupt local people in Brunei were behind such grand design.
Bangladesh High Commission in Brunei feels that unless the brokers were stopped the labour market might permanently close for Bangladeshis.
On August 3, the High Commission of Brunei Darussalam in Dhaka notified that it temporarily stopped accepting applications of employment visas for the Bangladeshi workers since August 4.
The Brunei government has taken the decision as some Brunei companies were found involved in manufacturing fake job visas for Bangladeshi workers.
About 30,000 Bangladeshi workers are currently working in Brunei with most of them employed in the construction sector, according to the Bangladesh High Commission there.
