Malaysia is to resume recruiting Bangladeshi workers: What you should know

Malaysia has agreed to reopen its labour market to Bangladesh, breaking a three-year pause in recruitments as the South-East Asian nation faces a labour shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad briefed the media in Dhaka on Tuesday about a memorandum of understanding, or MoU, signed in Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Saravanan on Sunday.

In 2016, the two countries signed an MoU through which Malaysia agreed to hire workers from Bangladesh in five different sectors under a “government-to-government plus” scheme.

Ten Bangladeshi recruitment agencies were permitted to send workers under the five-year contract.

But the Malaysian government stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshi workers in 2018 after allegations surfaced that the workers were paying Bangladeshi agents 10 times over than the money agreed in the MoU for work permit and air tickets.

SECTORS

The Malaysian cabinet recently agreed on recruitment of foreign workers for all sectors, apart from plantation.

The other sectors allowed to recruit foreign workers are agriculture, manufacturing, services, mining and quarrying, construction and domestic service.

The domestic service sector is new for Bangladeshi workers.

Imran said Bangladeshis will also be able to work as security guards.

HOW THE WORKERS WILL BE RECRUITED

The recruitment process will go ahead once Malaysia decides on the number of workers it needs from Bangladesh.

The government will send a list of recruiting agencies to Malaysia for scrutiny.

The employer can appoint recruiting agencies in Malaysia as well.

The workers must register on the database of Bangladesh’s Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training or BMET.

EXPENSES

The MoU requires Malaysian contractors to bear all the costs of recruiting Bangladeshi workers, including bringing them into the country, arranging residential facilities and sending them home, the overseas employment ministry said.

The workers will need to pay the cost of preparations in Bangladesh.

These include fees for passport, local agent, BMET, Wage Earners’ Welfare Board and medical tests.

Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment secretary, said the government will fix the cost of preparations in light of the MoU.

Minister Imran said the charge for service would not exceed two to three months of a workers’ salary.

He urged the workers not to pay extra to recruiting agents and brokers.

“We will send workers from our database. So, the workers must not pay the agents a single paisa before our confirmation.”