Monday, April 29, 2024
Malaysian Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan on Thursday claimed that Bangladesh’s prime minister and expatriates’ welfare minister have already approved a syndicate of 25 local recruiting agencies for sending workers to Malaysia.
However, speaking to The Business Post on the same day, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad refused Saravanan’s claim.
According to a report published by the Malaysian media outlet malaymail.com, Saravanan said, “When I had met the Bangladeshi prime minister, she agreed on 25 [recruiting agencies]. The minister [in Bangladesh] had agreed on 25. So why are our Malaysian MPs jumping now?
“Tell the parliamentarians they can raise any question in Parliament; that’s the right place so the whole world can listen. And it’s recorded, rather than raised on social media.”
Saravanan’s remarks appeared to be aimed at Klang MP Charles Santiago and two migrant worker advocacy groups that previously asked the minister to respond to allegations that a syndicate would control the 25 agencies, read the Malaysian media outlet.
According to this news article, Saravanan further claimed, “A management team had vetted over 1,500 agencies and selected the 25 based on a set of criteria agreed upon by both countries.”
However, the Malaysian government has not disclosed under what criteria those 25 recruiting agencies were selected. Many of the proposed agencies do not have the experience to send workers to Malaysia, while those who are experienced did not get selected at all.
Among the 25 syndicated agencies, three recruiting agencies are owned by three lawmakers each and one is owned by the wife of an important minister of Bangladesh.
Moreover, of those firms, one has the experience of sending only 387 workers so far and another has the experience of sending only 91 workers. Malaysia hires workers from 13 other source countries in a regular process without any syndication.
Industry insiders say, among the 25 syndicates, only one family is about to get three licences for work. Moreover, a minister’s wife and three lawmakers will get licences. Questions have arisen about how the selection was made.
Speaking to The Business Post, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed said neither Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, nor he has approved any syndicate of 25 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.
He further explained, “Saravanan made the claim quoting our prime minister. But first we have to think, is there any news regarding this claim? Secondly, in the MoU signed by Bangladesh and Malaysia, there is no clause mentioning 25 agencies.
“And thirdly, when I met with Saravanan for a discussion on the matter in Dhaka on June 2, we held no conversation regarding 25 agencies. So, how can Saravanan claim that we already gave him the approval?”
Imran Ahmed then pointed out, “Before leaving Dhaka, Saravanan told Journalists that usually, the receiving country decides about the agencies, and Malaysia will do this according to the decision of its cabinet. If so, how can he say that we already approved the matter?”
Commenting on the issue, WARBE Development Foundation’s Chairman Syed Saiful Haque said, “A Malaysian mafia-like racket is behind the push to create a 25-agency syndicate of Bangladeshi recruiters.
“BESTINET owner Datuk Seri Ruhul Amin and Malaysian Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan are the masterminds of this racket. A lot of money has already changed hands from Bangladesh to Malaysia.
He continued, “Saravanan has only until the Malaysian election to execute the ill-motivated plan. This is why he has become so restless. The prime minister of Malaysia should intervene, as this issue is also tarnishing his image ahead of the Malaysian national polls.”
Former secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman expressed his surprise after learning of Saravanan’s claims.
“We did not hear anything about the Bangladeshi prime minister and expatriates’ welfare minister approving the 25-agency syndicate,” Noman added.
The anti-syndicate alliance of local recruiting agencies has called a press conference on June 18 to voice their reaction on the matter.
Not the first time Saravanan made inconsistent statements
A week ago, Saravanan made statements in Kuala Lumpur that directly contradicted what he had said on labour recruitment just days ago in Dhaka.
After a meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Imran Ahmed during a recent visit to Bangladesh on June 2, Saravanan had told 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.”
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.
