We are concerned about the manpower export syndicate that forced the Malaysia government to stop taking workers from Bangladesh. The Malaysian government will use for another three years the Foreign Worker Centralized Management System, which is fraught with allegations of irregularities, news portal Malaysiakini says Saturday.
The online system operated by Bestinet Sdn Bhd manages the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh and 14 other countries. The government has fixed a maximum fee of Tk 78,990 to send workers to Malaysia.
But the syndicate extracts Tk 544,000 from a Bangladesh national to send him to Malaysia. Over the past 15 years, Malaysia’s labour market has been shut down three times. Every time the issue has come forward regarding a syndicate to send workers there, according to reports published in different national dailies and news agencies.
Bestinet owner Aminul Islam Abdul Nor, a Bangladesh born Malaysian citizen, is behind a cartel of 100 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies that siphoned huge sums of money paid by overseas jab seekers from Bangladesh, according to insiders of overseas recruitment business. The Southeast Asian country suspended foreign workers recruitment on May 31. The Malaysian government’s previous contract with Bestinet expired the same day.
According to a study, Bangladeshi migrants pay Tk 544,000 for recruitment fees, which is the highest in the world. Many migrants find on arrival in Malaysia that they do not have a job as promised and are forced into overstaying their visa. Consequently, they risk arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation.
Syndicate extracts
Tk 544,000 from a Bangladesh
national to send
him to Malaysia
Many become destitute and face an alarming humanitarian crisis. Malaysia would hire foreign workers on need basis. Malaysia is under huge burden of illegal foreign workers coming from 15 countries. Even a large number of Rohingyas are there. Therefore, the Malaysian government wants to keep the situation in order first.
While talking to the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (DCAB) members Malaysian High Commissioner says so far there is no sign of extension of this deadline. The Malaysia government wants to ensure that jobs are guaranteed for those Bangladeshi workers who are going to Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysia government thinks the illegal migrants are considered as a national- security threat. Migration-rights activists and sector-insiders estimated that some 100,000 Bangladeshi workers could not manage any job in Malaysia. An estimated over 0.6 million Bangladeshi workers are there in Malaysia.
The remittance sent by them through legal channel was over US$1.0 billion in 2022, but in 2021, the amount was 2.0 billion dollars. Earlier the manpower exporters demanded the inclusion of a nominated member of the FBCCI in the meeting of the Malaysia-Bangladesh Joint Working Committee to break up the syndicate in this sector. The manpower sector is contributing 12 percent to the country's GDP. We call for more attention from the government in this regard. At the same time, we urge the government to take steps to officially honour the manpower exporters who have contributed to the economy.
The situation requires urgent attention before it escalates further or before lives are further put at risk. Those who are in favour of syndicate, they are against our nation.
As the syndicate has established control in the business, the migration cost increased a lot and poor migrants suffered ultimately. Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) will have to take a strong stand against the syndication. We request the Prime Minister to take strong action against the corrupt people involved with the syndicate. With an aim to resume manpower export to Malaysia under the government to government arrangements, the Bangladesh government should start negotiation with the Malaysia government as early as possible. Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur must continue to work closely with Malaysia on this crucial issue related to the supply of manpower immediately.
