Badrul Ahsan :The government is still hopeful of sending workers to Malaysia, as the country has not yet been informed officially by the counter part, acting secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment said.She said whatever news published in the Malaysian newspapers should not be taken into consideration until and unless we are officially informed about the decission.”As we haven’t been informed anything yet by the Malaysian government about suspension of the workers’ recruitment, the next procedure as per Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will continue, Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Begum Shamsun Nahar told The New Nation on Saturday.It might be their internal policy matter. If the MoU was scrapped, then we would be informed through proper channel. We have decided to continue our activity in line with the MoU,” she said.Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot and Bangladesh Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Nurul Islam BSC signed a MoU on Thursday on recruitment of 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers through G2G Plus mechanism in the next three years.Later on Friday, Datuk Seri clarified saying that ‘1.5 million Bangladeshis had been registered with the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment in Bangladesh for jobs in Malaysia,’ according to Malaysian State News Agency Bernama.Meanwhile, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Friday announced that the recruitment of workers from all source countries will remain suspended ‘until it ascertains the actual manpower industries demand,” according to another report by Bernama.However, according to the signed MoU, it will allow Bangladeshi male and female workers to be posted in different sectora, including construction, farming, plantation and manufacturing sectors.The workers would be paid a minimum wage of Tk18,000 to Tk19,000 per month.Malaysian employers would also pay for workers’ security deposits, levies, visa fees, and health and compensation insurance, the MoU said.The move to bring in such a large number of Bangladeshi workers has drawn mixed response from the local industries.While some described the move as timely, others voiced worries over the sudden influx of workers which may lead to social problems.According to news of different Malaysian dailies, the announcement of suspension of recruitment came following dissatisfaction from different sectors of the country.
