Malaysian HR minister now makes inconsistent statements

Malaysian Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan made statements in Kuala Lumpur that directly contradicts what he said on labour recruitment just days ago in Dhaka, after reportedly failing to clear his syndicate agenda in a Malaysian government cabinet meeting.

Bangladeshi Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad had earlier made a U-turn on his stance against the syndicate, and his Malaysian counterpart did the same on June 8.

On that day, Saravanan told the Malaysian media that there was nothing to discuss in Wednesday’s cabinet meeting regarding the recruitment of labour from Bangladesh.

The string of current events clearly indicates that both the ministers from Bangladesh and Malaysia are now patronising a syndicate by altering their statements given earlier, going against the laws of the land, rules, regulations, international charters and workers’ interest.

‘MoU has long been settled’

On June 2, after a meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Imran Ahmed during a recent visit to Bangladesh, Saravanan told the reporters, “The mechanism for hiring workers from Bangladesh however will come into effect after the Malaysian cabinet meeting approval.

“Usually, the receiving country decides about the agencies. We will do this according to the decision of our cabinet.”

However, after a cabinet meeting of the Malaysian government held on June 8, journalists asked Saravanan about what the cabinet had decided regarding the process of hiring foreign workers.

In response, he said, “There was nothing to discuss [In the cabinet meeting]. At Malaysia’s level, the memorandum of understanding (MoU) has long been settled. There is no issue at the cabinet level.

“Because the Cabinet has already decided, and that is why I went to Bangladesh. Otherwise, I would not have visited the country.”

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Saravanan then mentioned that the employers applying to hire migrant workers through the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) will get approval within a week.

The FWCMS online system is operated by BESTINET SDN BHD. Owned by Bangladeshi-origin Malaysian Dato Seri Amin, the private firm is behind the creation of the syndicate, industry insiders told The Business Post.

‘A game of hide and seek’

It is not yet clear why both of these ministers altered their stance on sending workers from Bangladesh to Malaysia by leaving experienced recruiting agencies out of the process, and allowing firms that have little to no experience in the sector.

CR Abrar, chair of Bangladesh Civil Society for Migrants, said on the issue, “His [Saravanan] self-contradictory statement on such an important issue is astonishing, proving that a game of hide and seek is going on.

“Previously [in 2018] the Malaysian government had found evidence of corruption in the sector due to the involvement of a syndicate. That is why they stopped recruiting workers from Bangladesh.”

He added, “Legal action was also taken against perpetrators of the corruption. The Malaysian government had taken the important step to uphold public interest.

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"Under such circumstances, it is surprising to see both ministers patronising a very similar syndication system.”

A U-turn few saw coming

In a letter on January 14, M Saravanan urged his Bangladeshi counterpart Imran Ahmad to initiate the process of sending workers to Malaysia through 25 Bangladesh Recruitment Agencies (BRA).

Imran, however, rejected the proposal of Saravanan for the sake of transparency and creating opportunity for all local valid labour recruiters.

He had pointed out that Bangladesh is always in favour of transparent, fair and safe migration, as per relevant charters of International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Competition Act 2012 by keeping opportunities open to all the valid licensed Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.

However, after a meeting with Saravanan on June 2, Imran made a contradictory statement. He said the Malaysian Government will decide on the matters of recruiting agencies from Bangladesh.

Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said, “Saravanan, during his visit to Bangladesh, had stated that his cabinet will decide on the issue [of sending workers from Bangladesh to Malaysia].

“He is now saying that there is no need for cabinet approval. He also is saying that the matter was resolved long ago and he visited Bangladesh because it was resolved. How can a minister give three different statements on one issue?”

Noman further said, “As Bangladeshi nationals, we cannot say anything to the Malaysian government, but we can take the issue to the authorities concerned in our country.

“We had already served a legal notice to the secretary of the expatriates' welfare ministry on June 2, asking for the syndicate's cancellation and restoring equal opportunity to all licensed recruiting agents.”

ALSO READ: Malaysian cabinet to decide on recruiters: HR minister Saravanan

A legal notice is the first step towards taking an issue on civil matters to the court.

Along with sending a legal notice and separate letters to the ministry regarding the matter, the anti-syndicate coalition of recruiting agencies have also sent a letter to the prime minister’s office requesting that equal opportunity be granted to all recruiting agencies.

Noman further said, “We hope the prime minister will intervene for the sake of ensuring safe, secure and low cost migration. Malaysia has already slipped from its previous position in Trafficking in Persons ranking due to syndication back in 2018.

“If the same process is introduced yet again, both Bangladesh and Malaysia can slip further in this ranking. Moreover, our counterparts - the recruiters in Malaysia – have expressed solidarity with us in meetings. They wrote to us saying they are against syndication for smooth migration.

Can Zero-Cost Migration for workers be achieved?

The Malaysian government recently adopted a zero-cost migration policy as there is a huge demand for manpower in their economy.

Under this process, a worker will not have to bear any cost for migrating to Malaysia. Bangladeshi female workers are already migrating to different Arab countries under the zero cost process.

When a worker migrates under the zero-cost system, his or her employer from the receiving country shoulders all costs including accommodation and airfare, while recruiting agents from both sending and receiving countries get service charges from every employer.

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However, a number of experts and industry insiders told The Business Post that there is no hope of sending workers to Malaysia at zero cost as the number of recruiting agents has dropped to only 25 due to the creation of a syndicate.

Due to syndication, aspirant migrant workers will have to pay what the recruiting agents demand, because for them, there are little to no alternatives.

On the issue, Noman said, “The syndicate has been created to increase migration related costs. We can already see that there is always a syndicate involved behind the price increase of different essential commodities, including rice and edible oil.

“Syndication allows a handful of people to obtain unethical benefits by depriving others. In 2018, the same people were involved in the same type of malpractice centring the Malaysian labour market.”

Eminent migration expert CR Abrar, also the executive director of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), echoed the same saying that zero cost migration will never be possible through the current process under the syndicate.

“Those who possess a minimum level of understanding about the manpower sector can realise that it is a false dream,” he added.

What will the Bangladesh govt do about zero cost migration?

In 2017, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment fixed Tk1.60 lakh for sending workers to Malaysia. However, the Malaysian government recently announced their zero cost migration policy for workers.

ALSO READ: Bust syndicate, open labour market for all

Stakeholders have raised questions regarding what the Bangladeshi recruiters should do.

A number of officials at the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said the Bangladesh government will keep the provision of charging money from aspirant migrant workers, but the costs will be reduced from the rate announced back in 2017.

BMET’s Director Shahidul Alam said, “The expatriates’ welfare ministry will set the costs of sending labourers through a gazette notification soon. The related costs will be reduced. Ticket fare and some other costs will be eliminated.

“New costs will be set after calculating medical, passport and training costs of workers.”

Adding that everyone will have to strictly follow the costs set by the government, Shahidul said, “Public awareness is needed so that no worker pays more than the government-set rates. Recruiting agencies must provide receipts after charging workers.”