Reza Mahmud :
Huge delay of the long awaited Bangladeshi labour market reopening in Malaysia raised questions and frustrations among the eligible manpower keen to go the East Asian country.
Kuala Lumpur inked memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dhaka to recruit Bangladeshi manpower for different sectors on December 19, last year.
Imran Ahmed, Expatriates’ Welfare and Employment Overseas Minister of Bangladesh and Datuk Seri M Saravanan, Human Resource Minister of Malaysia signed the MoU.
The signing of the MoU created huge hope among the Bangladeshi manpower as the important market has been suspended about four years for them.
On the other hand, about 20,000 migrants returned home from Malaysia during the covid who are also waiting to return their jobs, Shariful Hasan of BRAC said it.
Though the MoU was signed four months ago, no light yet to see opening the door of the vast labour market.
When contacted Imran Ahmed, the Expatriates’ Welfare Minister, told The New Nation, “We are working closely with Malaysian concern officials for opening the door of the important labour market for our manpower. It would be open after completing the necessary procedures soon.”
The Minister said that he is trying utmost to ensure Bangladeshi workers interests as well the national interest in this regard.
Meanwhile, members of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) blamed that a vested circle is trying to form syndicate again over sending manpower to that country.
They said that Bangaldeshi origin Malaysian citizen Datok Amin bin Abdul Nur was behind the previous syndicate. He is also now trying to form a new syndicate.
They alleged that Datok Amin bin Nur influenced the Malaysian concern offices for creating pressures to Bangladesh for agreeing on syndication systems.
Meanwhile, Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed have not agreed to forming any syndicate for sending manpower to the country.
BAIRA members also staged different protest prgramme including forming human chain, protest rallies and press conferences against forming of any syndicate.
When contacted, former BAIRA President Mohammad Abul Bashar told The New Nation on Sunday, “It is common to conduct a joint working group (JWG) meeting after signing any MoU for deciding the details procedures. But Malaysian government is yet to set a date for the JWG meeting though Bangladesh has proposed for it different times.”
Indicating to Datok Nur, the BAIRA former president said, an influencial person behind it. That man is trying to form a syndicate again.
When contacted, Mohammad Ishaque of Shimon Overseas told The New Nation, “Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad are strongly determined that Bangladesh is now free from syndicate. Many Malaysian companies used to recruit foreign workers from source countries with zero migration cost. Bangladeshi workers also have a chance of going there with zero migration cost. If any syndicate was formed again, the chance of zero cost migration will go in vain.”
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad’s government suspended employing Bangladeshi workers in 2018 after revealing of allegations of taking extra charges from the migrants by the recruiting agencies’ syndicate.
Sources said, Malaysia has multi-sector demand of huge number of Bangladeshi manpower ranges from house maid to Mechanical Engineers.
Bangladeshi diasporas in Malaysia and Officials and Employers of the country said that firm owners overwhelmingly like Bangladeshi migrant workers as they are hardworking and honest.
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri M Saravanan, Human Resource Minister of Malaysia got about six lakh applications for recruiting foreign workers till April 7.
M. Saravanan on April 12, announced that his ministry decided to approve recruiting of one lakh and 80 thousand foreign workers in first phase within six weeks.
But the process of recruiting Bangladeshi manpower is delaying.
Meanwhile, a group of Malaysian recruiting agencies is now visiting Bangladesh for opening door of recruiting Bangladeshi housemaids.
