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Published : 12 Apr 2026, 04:41 PM
The BNP government is "sincere" about dismantling the labour recruitment "syndicates" to ensure low-cost manpower export to Malaysia, Mahdi Amin, the prime minister’s advisor on overseas employment, has said.
Speaking at the Secretariat on his recent visit to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Mahdi emphasised the administration's commitment to a transparent migration process.
“In the last few decades, we are the first to explicitly state that we want to break the syndicate,” Amin said in response to queries about whether the Malaysian government had been formally requested to intervene.
“We want our people to go at a low cost through a transparent process. We have urged Malaysia to take all necessary steps to make this process syndicate-free,” he added.
Manpower export to Malaysia has been suspended since May 31, 2024, following a deadline set by the Malaysian government for Bangladeshi workers with prior approval.
Despite efforts by the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, the market remained closed.
On Wednesday, Expatriates' Welfare Minister Ariful Haque and Mahdi travelled to Malaysia to hold high-level talks.
On Thursday, the delegation met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
During the meeting, Ibrahim extended an invitation to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to visit Malaysia.
The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment later confirmed that Malaysia has agreed to reopen its doors to Bangladeshi workers.
Addressing a joint statement issued after the bilateral meeting, which mentioned sending workers through “credible representatives”, Amin clarified that this applies to all labour-sending countries, not just Bangladesh.
“Malaysia has certain criteria for all countries they recruit from. That is their position,” he said.
“From our side, we define ‘credible’ or ‘qualified’ as those who conduct recruitment through a transparent, corruption-free process.”
