Reza Mahmud :
Victim Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia have urged all concerned to eliminate factors which push them to be undocumented in that country.
They also asked the Malaysia-bound workers to ensure their wages in the country comparing with their migration costs before they fly. The victims said local agents are behind their miseries.
“As per the agreement signed between the two governments, the migration costs for each Bangladeshi worker would not be more than Tk 1.65 lakh. But the costs hiked up to Tk 4 lakh for each worker to reach Malaysia,” said Mamun Hossain, a migrant worker in Kuala Lumpur from Narsingdi district.
He said, “If the workers could earlier know that the wages were fixed and not more than one thousand Ringgit, that means only Tk 20,000 per month, then they could have taken their own decision accordingly. Indeed, it would not be enough to cover up their migration costs in a reasonable time.”
As a result, most of them used to leave their companies in the hope of earning more money, but they fall in danger of being undocumented workers after breaching the law of foreign workers there, Mamun said. Other victim workers also expressed their agonies similarly.
“It was also uncertain that if they be able to earn more money in a company which has not hired them legally,” said Hanif Munshi, a man from Keranigonj, near Dhaka went to Malaysia several years ago.
He said, numbers of Bangladeshi workers become illegal after coming here in legal way only for those reasons.
Most of the workers who became undocumented after changing their legal employee companies have been punished with jail term.
Many of them used to return home after detained and getting amnesty from the authority.
In both cases, the victims lost all of their chances of covering their migration costs, they said.
Datuk Khairul Jazaimi Dawood, Director General of the Malaysia’s immigration department, said in a statement recently that more than 26,000 Bangladeshi expatriates were detained and deported in 2021 alone.
The local agents not only charged abnormally extra fees, but also influenced them to change companies after entering the country to earn more, they said.
In case of government’s punitive actions, embassies cannot do anything favouring them.
In this circumstance, Malaysia has opened its door for recruiting Bangladeshi manpower again after closing it in October 2018.
The then government of the country has closed its door in that time only for charging higher fees than the agreement between the two countries.
The workers also said that several Bangladeshi people have cheated workers by selling work permits of the fake companies.
“Many of our migrant workers have become beggars after entering the country taking such fake companies’ work permits,” they said.
The Bangladeshi workers said, each and everyone should check their recruiting agencies and companies’ history before giving any fees.
When contacted, Benjir Ahmed, MP, former President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) told The New Nation, “No one should give money to any person without checking legal identity of any recruiting agency.”
He said, every worker should be aware enough before giving money to any person on the name of migration.
Meanwhile, Imran Ahmed, the Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister said that the costs would be decreased comparing the previous agreement with the country.
He said, most of the costs, including plane fare and medical expenditures, would be borne by the Malaysian employers, so cost would be very low for workers.
Dr. Ahmed Munirus Salehin, secretary of the ministry, said, “The government is giving priorities to the workers interests first. Every factor that harms migrants interests will be identify and eradicated.”
