Malaysia to take 200,000 BD workers from September
Malaysia is set to resume large-scale recruitment of Bangladeshi workers from the end of September, with up to 200,000 workers expected to be sent in phases over six months.
The development is particularly significant for Bangladesh, where Malaysia has long been a major destination for migrant workers and a substantial source of remittance income.
The Malaysian labour market was closed to new Bangladeshi workers on May 31, 2024, amid allegations of excessive recruitment costs, syndication, irregularities and exploitation.
The new recruitment process is expected to be accompanied by tighter controls and a more structured system. Of the 200,000 workers, Malaysia will recruit an additional 10,000 workers on a zero-cost basis, meaning they will not have to bear recruitment-related expenses.
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Mir Shahe Alam disclosed the latest recruitment plan on Sunday after a meeting between Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Mohd Shuhada Othman and Local Government Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
“The manpower export from Bangladesh will begin by the end of September and will be completed within the next six months,” Shahe Alam told reporters, quoting the Malaysian High Commissioner.
Asked about the number of workers, he said: “A total of 200,000 will go through their listed companies.”
He added: “Besides this, they will take 10,000 workers completely free of charge, meaning there will be no cost involved.”
A representative present during the briefing clarified that the arrangement would be on a “zero-cost” basis, to which the state minister responded: “Zero cost. That process will also begin in phases towards the end of September.”
The announcement carries particular weight because Bangladesh’s access to the Malaysian labour market has been effectively frozen since May 2024.
Malaysia suspended the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers after widespread allegations that migrants were being charged exorbitant fees, while some workers arrived in Malaysia without the jobs they had been promised. The resulting crisis left workers heavily indebted and, in some cases, vulnerable to illegal employment, detention and deportation.
The previous recruitment arrangement also came under intense scrutiny over allegations of syndication.
Reports and migration researchers have estimated that many Bangladeshi workers paid between Tk400,000 and Tk600,000 to secure employment in Malaysia during the 2022-24 recruitment period.
Malaysia currently has around 800,000 registered Bangladeshi workers, according to the state minister.
The reopening therefore presents both a major employment opportunity and a test for whether Bangladesh and Malaysia can prevent a repeat of the abuses that led to the previous shutdown.
The government has said the new recruitment process will be more transparent.
The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment said on Friday that Malaysia’s labour market would reopen through a transparent process after a series of ministerial-level discussions between the two countries.
According to the ministry, Malaysia has directly selected 25 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies and authorised another 312 agencies as associate recruitment agencies.
The agencies were screened by a Malaysian joint committee involving representatives of relevant ministries, the Anti-Corruption Commission and law-enforcement agencies.
The ministry has also issued an important warning to prospective workers: they should not pay anyone, undergo medical tests or submit their passports until an official recruitment notice is issued.
The warning is aimed at preventing brokers and intermediaries from exploiting workers once the recruitment process begins.
For the initial 10,000 workers being recruited under the zero-cost arrangement, the government has said the first batches will be sent through Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) on special chartered flights. Workers under that arrangement will not have to pay airfare or other migration-related costs.
The reopening could provide employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis at a time when overseas employment remains one of the country’s most important economic safety valves.
Malaysia has already become home to a large Bangladeshi workforce, with roughly 800,000 registered Bangladeshis currently working there, according to Shahe Alam. The government is also seeking the regularisation of undocumented Bangladeshi workers already in Malaysia.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman raised the reopening of Malaysia’s labour market during his June visit to Kuala Lumpur, asking Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to resume recruitment.
The two leaders also discussed the regularisation of undocumented Bangladeshi workers and the repatriation of detained Bangladeshis.
Anwar said both countries were committed to transparency in recruitment and protection of workers, stressing that exploitation of migrant workers for private gain could not be tolerated.
The June discussions marked an important political step towards reopening the corridor. The announcement on Sunday indicates that those discussions have now moved towards an operational recruitment timetable.
In addition, Shahe Alam said Malaysia was preparing to invest in Bangladesh in several sectors, including electric vehicles, solar power and renewable energy, and halal food. He put the potential investment at roughly US$2 billion.
Bangladesh and Malaysia discussed labour migration, halal industry cooperation and the energy sector during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s June visit to Kuala Lumpur. The two sides also expressed a commitment to expanding economic cooperation, trade and investment.
Malaysia is itself positioning halal products as a major international industry. Its trade agency says the country’s halal market is projected to reach RM523.53 billion, or about US$113.2 billion, by 2030, while Malaysia’s halal exports were valued at RM59.46 billion in 2022.
