Reza Mahmud :
Most of the members of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) are demanding open system for sending workers to Malaysia as the country has announced reopening of its labour market for foreign workers.
After two years of suspension on recruiting foreign workers due to pandemic, Malaysia recently announced to open its door for foreign workers.
Sources from the Ministry on Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment said that Bangladesh might again send its workers within November or December this year. The Malaysia is the second largest destination of Bangladeshi manpower abroad after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
According to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) about 10,57,213 Bangladeshi workers have been sent so far.
In 2018, a total of 1,75,927 Bangladeshi people earned jobs in that country.
Thereafter, 670 (545+125) workers have gone to the country in last two years.
Meanwhile, about 14 lakh of Bangladeshi expatriates have returned home from different countries for the pandemic in the last two years.
Economic activities in most of the host countries for our labourers are falling due to the worldwide pandemic. In this situation, the news of resuming Malaysian labour market is a big thing for the sector.
Manpower recruiting agencies are trying to secure options to achieve their fare share on sending workers to the East Asian country.
Earlier, the important labour market got suspended due to syndication on sending workers to the country through government to government agreement between Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian government suspended recruiting Bangladeshi manpower in 2018 due to the syndicate.
BAIRA leaders said there are about 1200 recruiting agencies working on recruiting workers for labour markets abroad.
But only a syndicate of 10 agencies got the opportunity to send manpower to Malaysia.
As a result the labourers had to spend extra money for going the country.
Recruiting agencies said, the dishonest circle is now active to form a new syndicate for grabbing the second largest labours market again.
In these circumstances, manpower and agencies are anxious over resuming and sustaining the largest labour market in the East Asian country.
When contacted, Md. Shahidul Alam, Director General of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) told The New Nation on Tuesday, “Malaysian labour market will be opened soon for foreign labourer. Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment is working seriously to ensure working opportunities for large number of our workers.”
He said the ministry is strict to not allow any syndicate, and keep the market open for all agencies.
Open system can secure workers’ interest and can ensure lower migration costs, he added.
When contacted, Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former Secretary General of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), told The New Nation on Tuesday, “Expatriate Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed said that the Malaysian labour market will be opened soon for foreign workers including Bangladeshis within December.”
“We have demanded syndicate free market so that the large destination of our workers may not be suspended again,” Noman said.
