Gazi Anowar :
The Labour recruitment in Brunei is being controlled by a strong syndicate, who works in collaboration with Bangladesh brokers putting them in jeopardy, according to the Bangladesh High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Brokers often recruit Bangladeshi workers for fake companies against no job in reality without getting the visas attested by the Bangladesh High Commission’s labour wing, putting the workers in uncertainty, they said.
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 amount of money which the migrants must pay.
According to a high commission official, who did not want to be named, there were a number of manpower brokers causing troubles in the labour market in Brunei, home to some 30,000 Bangladeshi migrants.
These brokers, in connivance with a section of Brunei immigration officials, secure work visas and hire workers from Bangladesh. The migrants pay Tk 300,000 to Tk 700,000 to get jobs them.
However, a large number of them find themselves jobless after reaching the country. Even if they find jobs, the brokers take a huge cut from their wages, the official said.
“Such irregularities have been going on for quite a long time,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the workers went to Brunei with fake visa and did not get any job, filed complaints with the high commission recently.
A manpower broker, Kamrul who helped some Bangladeshis to go to Brunei a few months ago but they got no jobs.
In this backdrop, Kamrul was called in and after several attempts to bring him in; he went to the high commission on August 21 when the complainants were present. At one stage of the altercation, the complainants beat one Kamrul, the official said. A video of the incident went viral and drew questions as to how someone could be beaten inside the high commission.
The video, seen by this correspondent, shows that five to six people taking turns in punching, slapping and kicking the man next to an official at his desk.
The expatriates’ welfare ministry has launched a probe regarding the issue yesterday stating that it decided to take necessary action following proper investigation into the untoward incident. The statement did not elaborate what had happened.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to Brunei Air Vice-Marshal (retd) Mahmud Hossain has recently informed the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment that brokers collect visas from Brunei’s labour department in unethical ways and charge each worker up to Tk 5 lakh as migration cost.
‘Most of the visas collected by brokers are not attested by officials of the mission’s labour wing,’ Mahmud said.
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.
Bangladesh High Commission in Brunei feels that unless the brokers were stopped the labour market might be permanently close to Bangladeshis.
The Brunei government has taken the decision as some Brunei companies were found involved in fake job visas for Bangladeshi workers.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry’s Secretary Rownaq Jahan said that they were all set to take steps soon to bring the brokers under legal framework so that stern actions could be taken against the unscrupulous brokers.
Bangladesh High Commissioner said there were many Brunei companies which were recruiting workers from Bangladesh by issuing so-called ‘free visas’ and they were plunging the workers into an abbeys of uncertainty.
Bangladeshi workers frequently lodged complaints with the Bangladesh mission’s labour wing in Brunei’s capital that they were cheated or denied their wages, he said.
