Not even Malaysia takes us seriously

IN the last couple of days some 752 expatriate Bangladeshi workers has been reported to be detained under a special drive carried out by the police in Malaysia. Moreover, a total of 28 employers were also detained while another 86 people were given notice to attend and give statements since the operation had commenced. However, the drive conducted by the police in that country is clearly targeted for locating and arresting illegal foreign workers, but for the detained Bangladeshi workers it’s the clichéd sad tale of another manmade adversity. Most of the detained workers were arrested for not having the E-card or enforcement card – a temporary arrangement for working in Malaysia. In realty, it’s the employer’s responsibility to provide employees with such important provision, and it’s here where we underscore negligent handling of workers by many Malaysian firms. Needs mentioning, the E-card actually acts as a temporary validation to allow foreign workers who do not have valid documents to work in Malaysia for a short period only.

In the first place, responsible firms should first issue the Enforcement Card before recruiting any illegal immigrants and also those who are somehow missing all required valid employment documents. It is actually the various Malaysian employers who are at fault. Their irresponsible handling of employees has made hundreds of Bangladeshis the unfortunate victims.

Coupled with the E-card dilemma, it is also the Bangladesh Mission which reportedly does little to aid our expat workers, in terms of, put pressure on local recruiting agencies and Malaysian firms for providing all valid documents to our workers, and also to free them from jails.

Not that the problem is unsolvable, but it is commitment and sincerity which is lacking in both ends – the foreign firms and also our Mission. That said – The E-card alternative, however, will expire on February 15 next year, and before that the cardholder must obtain a valid travel document from their respective embassy. We expect our embassy to intervene in this unfortunate impasse for the safeguarding the interests of Bangladeshi workers. Also, it is expected that all our recruitment agencies to properly inform about the employment guidelines to our prospective workers in this regard.

Our Foreign Ministry is proving ineffective and no country takes us seriously. Our workers in Malaysia are suffering with our passports in their hands but the government is not providing protection to them and being treated inhumanly as if they have no government to protect.