A GROUP of recruiting agencies as reported initiated moves to send workers to Malaysia through syndication although the country’s labour market is still closed for foreign workers including Bangladeshis. It was reported in an English daily on Saturday. It said quoting concerned recruiting agents that the syndicating recruitment agencies could put the country’s one of the important labour markets in uncertainty and also increase the cost of migration for the workers. It also said, aiming to manpower export to Malaysia, the group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Malaysian private agency and has already set up medical centers for conducting medical check-ups of Malaysia-bound workers. Officials in Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur, however, said that they were not informed about such syndication. They also said that Malaysian government has not yet conveyed any formal decision about lifting ban on recruitment of foreign workers including Bangladesh.As per the MoU, according to the report, the core group so formed is trying to open the Malaysian labour market for the greater interest of the country. “Nothing will be secret. If workers start going to Malaysia, all government agencies will know it”, said one official of the group.Malaysian government had suspended recruitment of all foreign workers, including those from Bangladesh, since February last. So no worker was getting immigration clearance for Malaysia from the Bureau of Manpower of the government. When the suspension would be withdrawn, after a detailed discussion between the two governments the modality of medical test for Malaysia-bound workers would be finalised. The question thus comes is why there is a hurry to sign a MoU with a private organisation of Malaysia by a group of Bangladeshi recruiting agent. Most of the Bangladeshi recruiting agencies have bad reputation for their fishy activities in performing manpower business. In general the rural youths of Bangladesh tend to go abroad to earn money in exchange of physical labour. They lack that smartness to encounter the lust of maximum recruiting agents. Manipulations are done mostly in the name of medical test. After so-called medical test the recruiting agencies create pressure on foreign-bound workers to pay money in advance. It takes time for their actual travel to the employers’ country. This is the common picture of manpower business. We fear the same thing is going to be repeated in this case. It is the responsibility of the government to deal with the reopening of Malaysian labour market. Why private agency should sign MoU and should manipulate the process before formalities are completed at government level? Moreover, any sort of monopoly in this sector will create extra-financial burden for the workforce willing to go abroad. So, this business syndication should be stopped immediately.
