The Cabinet on Monday approved the draft of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia with a target of sending 15 lakh (1.5 million) Bangladeshi workers there in three years. The approval came at the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, said Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam in a news briefing following the meeting. Alam said that the Bangladeshi workers would be allowed to work in service, manufacturing and construction sectors in Malaysia apart from the lone plantation field under the process, officially called G2G Plus. G2G plus means if the Bangladesh government wants it can involve Baira (Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agency) in the recruiting process. About the new G2G Plus initiative, the Cabinet Secretary said that Bangladesh would now be enlisted as a source country while some guidelines have been prepared transparently for both the sides. He said that at the very beginning of the process, the Malaysian government after verifying the demand and capacity of the employers in Malaysia would ensure the job security and other related facilities for the workers while there would be no interference of the middlemen. The Cabinet Secretary said that the workers would be sent from the registered list of the database of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) and the lion share of the migration cost would be borne by the employer. He said that the migration cost would vary from Tk 34,000-Tk 37,000 subject to the fluctuation of the exchange rate. He said that the appointment letters of the workers would be attested by the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia and would also be kept there while there would be no scope for appointment letter replacement or duplication. The Cabinet Secretary said that the salaries of the workers would be directly sent to the bank accounts of the workers while a Joint Working Group (JWG) would be in place under the G2G Plus process to conduct joint monitoring to protect workers rights and their interests. In this connection, he said that if there is any allegation, the JWG would initially try to settle it, if not, the matter would go up to the higher level. He said once the new MoU is signed and made effective, the previous MoU of 2012 and the protocol in 2014 would be annulled. Besides, the new G2G plus process also has provisions of sending female workers to Malaysia. The Cabinet Secretary said the employer would bear the expenses of workers’ security deposit, fee, levy, visa fee, health insurance and compensation insurance. He said that the Malaysian government would send the concerned information and data to the BMET after scrutinising the demand of employers in Malaysia. On the contrary, the Bangladesh government would send the list of eligible recruiting agencies under the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) through online system. “Later, the recruiting agencies would be determined through a transparent and accountable manner,” he said. Alam said that the recruiting agencies would play a facilitating role like recruiting workers from the database of BMET, completion of agreement, bio medical of the workers, security verifying, visa processing, training and immigration activities. He said through online system, the employer would know the necessary information regarding employees’ selection and then send the appointment letters to Bangladesh High Commission for attestation. Upon completion of the necessary formalities, the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka would make arrangement for visa stumping into the passports of Bangladeshi workers. Answering to a question, the Cabinet Secretary said that since the previous G2G initiative did not get enough response, the government went for the G2G Plus initiative involving the recruiting agencies. “We hope that this process would be much more transparent and accountable,” he said. In replying to another question, he said that the proposed MoU is likely to be signed within a month. He said the Cabinet also elaborately discussed the draft of “The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Bill,2016” and took a decision that a committee headed by the Principal Secretary would place it before the Cabinet again after further scrutiny. The Cabinet Secretary said the meeting was apprised of the participation of a Bangladesh delegation led by the Commerce Minister in the “Bengal Global Summit” held in Kolkata on January 8-9 and “The Partnership Summit” held in Andhra Pradesh in India on January 10-12. Besides, he said, the participation of the Education Minister on behalf of the Prime Minister in the Leaders Forum of the 38th General Meeting of the UNESCO held in Paris in November last year also came up in the meeting. Ministers and State Ministers concerned attended the meeting along with secretaries. — Dhaka, Feb 8 (UNB)
