Reza Mahmud :
Manpower exporters in Dhaka are optimistic as the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is receiving an influx of demand letters for workers.
These exporters are hopeful that the government will act swiftly to secure the Malaysian labour market, which they feared had been lost for a long time.
Officials at the embassy are currently verifying the demand letters and preparing documents for attestation, awaiting government orders to proceed.
Stakeholders warn that if the government doesn’t take quick action to recapture the market, Malaysian employers might turn to other countries like Nepal and the Philippines for workers.
Leaders of the Bangladesh International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) expressed concerns that former members of a recruitment syndicate are attempting to re-establish their influence by negotiating with key partners in Kuala Lumpur.
They emphasized the importance of keeping the labour market open to all agencies, avoiding the formation of any monopolistic syndicates.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a close friend of Bangladesh’s Interim Government Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on Friday.
Discussions between the two leaders are expected to cover trade, investment, and the manpower sector.
Reaz-ul-Islam, Senior Vice-President of BAIRA and Proprietor of Reaz Overseas, told The New Nation, “We are eagerly awaiting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Dhaka.
We urge Chief Adviser Dr. Yunus to finalize the process of reopening the vital labour market during this visit.”
He pointed out that the Malaysian market was closed several times despite high demand for Bangladeshi workers due to syndicate-related issues.
“This government should put an end to such practices,” he added.
Mohammed Fakhrul Islam, Joint Secretary General-1 of BAIRA and Managing Partner of the Human Resource Development Center, highlighted the critical importance of Malaysia as a major labour market for Bangladesh.
“Since the market’s closure, the manpower export sector has become vulnerable,” he said.
BAIRA Joint-Secretary General-3, Md. Tipu Sultan, and Proprietor of Rajdhani Trade International, echoed this sentiment, stating, “We’ve heard multiple times that the joint working group meeting would be held soon, but nothing has materialized.
We hope it will finally take place to reopen this vast destination for our workforce.”
According to sources, Saudi Arabia, the largest destination for Bangladeshi workers, recruited 53,254 workers in May of this year, while Malaysia, as the second-largest market, hired 47,809.
Without access to the Malaysian market, there is no other destination capable of hiring more than 9,000 Bangladeshi workers at once.
Recruiters warned that syndication leads to irregularities. If syndicates regain control, prospective migrants will have no choice but to pay exorbitant fees for visas.
The Malaysian labour market has been closed since May 31 due to global criticism over recruitment irregularities, which involved charging workers excessively while providing inadequate wages and housing.
Syndication involving Bangladeshi recruiting agencies and their Malaysian counterparts was blamed for these issues, prompting Kuala Lumpur to suspend the recruitment of foreign workers.
The official government-set migration fee for Malaysia-bound workers is Tk 79,000, but syndicates were charging as much as Tk 5 to 6 lakh per worker.
Much of this additional money was laundered, with syndicate members failing to report these earnings to tax authorities.
Recruitment leaders estimate that syndicate members have illegally siphoned approximately Tk 30,000 crore abroad through these corrupt practices.