Home ›› 29 Jun 2022 ›› Editorial
The governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 19th December 2021 signifying the reopening of the Malaysian labour market for Bangladeshi workers till 2026. Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding to lift the ban on recruiting Bangladeshi workers, which it imposed in 2018 over some irregularities in the recruitment process by a specially selected 10 Bangladeshi manpower recruitment agencies.
This time, workers to Malaysia will be recruited from a list of 25 recruitment agencies, supported by 250 sub-agents provided by the Bangladesh government on the other hand all registered Malaysian manpower recruitment agencies are allowed to work under this agreement. In a previous agreement with the Malaysian government in 2018, Bangladesh allowed only 10 manpower recruiting agencies and finally Malaysian government withdraw from the agreement due to cartels and corruption in the recruitment of workers. The media in Malaysia and Bangladesh as well as Bangladeshi business leaders smelled fishy game in the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi migrant workers haven't been able to go to Kuala Lumpur due to allegations of irregularities. After so many years, the possibility of immigration is opening up again, but why is the process being made questionable over the same allegations?
Before a suspension stopped Bangladeshi workers from immigrating to Malaysia in 2018, the main method of labour export between these two countries was the Government to Government (G2G) method. With the advent of this novel system, many hoped that worker exploitation, human trafficking and charging exorbitant fees by recruitment agencies would stop. But the outcome was far from the expectation. The Malaysia-bound jobseekers hardly benefited from the G2G agreement as many of the recruiters did not obey the government's instructions. The selected fortunate 10 recruiting agencies charged around Tk 300,000 to Tk 400,000 each for getting a job in Malaysia although the G2G plus arrangement set Tk 37,000 including airfare (one way) for a worker to Malaysia. At one stage, the Malaysian government had stopped the G2G plus process and initiated an investigation of corruption into it. Unfortunately, the Bangladesh government made no initiative to resolve the crisis. The Bangladesh government, for its part, did not carry out any investigation regarding corruption.
This time also similar collusion and cartel among 25 manpower companies are suspected, Malaysiakini, a Malaysian news portal, on 10th January 2022 expressed fear of migration activists and manpower exporters that there would be syndication again in sending workers to Malaysia although the Bangladesh expatriate welfare ministry has been opposing it in the recent times. The news portal obtained a document that outlined the proposed process and procedure for the recruitment and repatriation of Bangladesh workers. The syndicate, comprising 25 licensed agencies, allegedly had to spend thousands of crores of takas for this. Only those syndicate members, among more than a thousand BAIRA (the association of the recruiting agencies) members, will be allowed to send workers to Malaysia. This move has naturally been condemned by BAIRA.
This entry will open to all sectors allowing for the employment of foreign workers namely agriculture, manufacturing, services, mining and quarrying, construction and domestic servants. Employers who want to recruit foreign workers will have to provide housing or accommodation facilities as stipulated under the Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act of 1966.
The document of the recent agreement reportedly shows the recruitment process -- starting from the application to workers' arrival -- will be done through the software namely Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) of Malaysia. In Malaysia, migrant rights group Tenaganita were among those who urged to disclose the MoU terms, raising concerns over the possible revival of the syndicate which will result in high recruitment costs and labour abuses.
Over the limit set on the recruitment agencies, the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) raised concerns and requested an equal opportunity for all of its 1,600 members to send workers to Malaysia.
Some newspapers reported that the Bangladesh government will determine the service charge for the recruiters sending workers to Malaysia to ensure a rational migration cost. The charge will not be more than three months' pay of a worker, according to a press briefing of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry and the minimum wage in Malaysia is Tk 25,000. On the other hand, manpower recruiters cannot send any worker outside of the government's overseas jobseekers' database. So, they cannot charge any extras and all expenses from Malaysia part would be borne by employers including airfare for first-time flying of a worker, fees for visa and immigration, medical check-up, Covid-19 test, quarantine and accommodation. This is in line with the decision of the Malaysian Cabinet meeting on Dec 10, 2021 to allow foreign workers to be recruited by all sectors. The standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the entry of foreign workers have been fine-tuned and improved. The SOPs cover four phases, namely pre-release, upon arrival, after arrival (quarantine), and post-quarantine.
By this time, the standing committee on Manpower and Skill Development of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) stated that businessmen are concerned over the manpower export syndicate. At the meeting, some members of the standing committee also expressed their concerns about the syndicate in the manpower sector. Citing the examples of Nepal, India, Pakistan; they said, each country is exporting manpower to Malaysia through more than one and a half thousand recruiting agents. Therefore, there is no reason to limit the number of agencies in Bangladesh.
Malaysia-based migrant workers' rights specialist Andy Hall told a Bangladesh newspaper that there were issues with how the recruiting agencies were selected as there was alleged abuse of political powers in Bangladesh and Malaysia at the expense of migrant workers. "If the recruitment agencies were chosen through a transparent open tender process, based on their proven track record, it would be acceptable," says Hall. He said without more transparency, the new recruitment process risks of being a revival of previous syndicates that ultimately contributed to issues of labour exploitation.
Manpower exporters in Bangladesh also called for government policy support against a syndicate that wants to control the sector. They alleged that the syndicate is behind the rise in plane ticket prices—from an average of Tk50,000 to more than Tk1,00,000— from Bangladesh to the Middle East. According to at the meeting, the syndicate now wants to control the process of sending workers to Malaysia as that country recently agreed to reopen its doors once again for Bangladeshi workers after a three-year halt but the Malaysian government will stop recruitment this time again if there is any corruption in the recruitment process.
In this regard, the Malaysian government decided that the entry of foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, will be closely monitored based on the SOP by Malaysia's ministry of human resources in collaboration with the ministry of health and the National Security Council.
The cartel (selected privileged recruitment agencies) and collusion (popularly known as syndicate) are illegal according to Bangladesh’s Competition Act 2012. Malaysia also has similar competition law and they have allowed all registered recruitment agencies to work under the MOU with Bangladesh. The manpower agencies or individual candidates for employment in Malaysia may complain to Bangladesh Competition Commission. The Competition Commission Act, 2012 in section 22 stipulates that if an anti-competition arrangement is committed outside of Bangladesh causing an adverse effect in the relevant market within the country, the Commission can enquire into the matter following laws and rules of both the countries.
The writer is a legal economist and adviser, Bangladesh Competition Commission. He can be contacted at mssiddiqui2035@gmail.com
