Middlemen allegedly grab lion share of earnings

BD workers face immense sufferings

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Staff Correspondent :
Thousands of Bangladeshi expatriate in Malaysia are facing extreme sufferings due to the influence of middlemen.
It was alleged that workers are losing the lion share of their earnings in the name of visa extension, passport renewing and making other official documents in staying Malaysia.
Malaysia, the second largest job market for the Bangladeshi workers, has not been recruiting new workers for a long time on the allegation that the middlemen are controlling the labour market.
Many Bangladeshi workers alleged that manpower brokers with the help of some Malaysian citizens are making huge money making the migrant workers hostage.
Rafiq Uddin, residence of Manohordi Upazila of Norsingdi, has being working at an agro firm in Malaysia for ten years. But his fate is yet to be changed because a large part of his earnings go to the pocket of the brokers for preparing official documents.
According to the expatriate workers, the middleman controlled the Malaysian labour market and Aminul Islam Bin Abdun Nur, one of the middlemen, in cooperation of Shahidul Islam, Bangladesh High Commissioner in Malaysia, doing this job.
He alleged that the workers go to the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia to extend their visas or renew passport but without help of the middlemen, it is difficult to complete the jobs.
Even, some organised gangs, comprises with Bangladeshis, remain active in the country to abduct Bangladeshis for ransoms, according to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police.
CID has recently nabbed some Bangladeshis for committing such crimes.
Members of the gang have also provided jobs to documented and undocumented expatriates in different construction companies, but did not paying their wages for months.
The workers are often tortured if they demand their wages.
Kamrul Islam (not his real name), who went to Malaysia five years ago, told The New Nation over phone that Ibrahim (passport number AF7057921), hailed Purba Lord Hardinge in Bhola district, engaged more than one hundred workers, including him, in a construction company.
He did not pay wages of most of the workers mainly from Bangladesh and Philippine.
“I was not paid wages of four months. Besides, he took 3,000 ringette from me to validate my document, but he did not do so and even did not return the amount,” he said.
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