Home ›› 20 Dec 2021 ›› Front
Malaysia has formally reopened its labour market for Bangladeshi workers after a pause of over three years.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two countries in this regard on Sunday.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad and his Malaysian counterpart Minister for Human Resources Datuk Seri M Saravanan signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides.
The MoU outlines the responsibilities of the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments, employers and employees of both countries as well as agencies.
The terms and conditions of the MoU are yet to be public.
But Bangladeshi officials say Malaysian employers will bear all costs including immigration fee, insurance, housing, healthcare and Covid-related test and/or quarantine fee on their end while the remaining expenses will be borne by the employees themselves before reaching Malaysia.
Malaysia was one of the major destinations for Bangladeshi workers till September 2018 when it shut the door for Bangladeshi workers. In the meantime, Bangladesh took steps to reopen the labour market in the Southeast Asian country but failed to make any headway due to many reasons.
The previous MoU expired on February 17, 2021, and this new one will be in effect for five years, ending in December 2026.
At a press briefing in Dhaka on Friday, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran said his ministry would try to make sure that the migration cost is lower than that in the previous years.
“We will not leave a scope for syndication,” he said, adding, “We will keep the door open for all. From our side, all legitimate agencies will get opportunity, but Malaysia will make its own decision in this regard.”
Former president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies Benazir Ahmed said he was not informed in detail about the agreement, but congratulated both governments for reopening the market at the moment when overseas job market for Bangladeshi aspirants shrank due to Covid-19.
He argued that the migration cost is a serious matter for Bangladeshis, and the cost depends on various other things including airfare and Covid-related health issues.
“If the government can ensure cost bellow Tk 1.6 lakh, poor migrant workers will get huge benefits,” Benazir pointed out, urging the government to ensure safe workplace and better wage for Bangladeshi migrant labour in Malaysia.
Last week in a media statement, the Malaysian government said the country has agreed to sign a MoU with the Bangladesh authorities for resuming workers’ recruitment.
According to the statement, Bangladeshi labour recruitment would resume immediately after a MoU is signed between the two nations in sectors such as plantations, agriculture, manufacturing, services, mining and quarrying, construction, and domestic work.
Over 10.5 lakh Bangladeshi workers have so far migrated to Malaysia. Besides, more than 20,000 workers who came to Bangladesh from Malaysia on vacation before the coronavirus pandemic are now stranded here.
According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) data, despite the recruitment suspension, 7.89 per cent of the total Bangladeshi migrants currently work in Malaysia.
The bureau statistics shows that 2,73,201 Bangladeshis were recruited by Malaysian employers in 2007.
In September 2018, when Malaysia suspended recruitment, 1,75,927 Bangladeshis had migrated there in the previous nine months.
Since then, Malaysia recruited only 688 Bangladeshis.
According to the latest Bangladesh Bank data, the inflow of remittance from Malaysia dropped to $ 290.86 million in the July-September period of 2021 against the inflow of $ 607.24 million in the corresponding period in 2020. The remittance inflow in 2019 was $ 1.19 billion from Malaysia to Bangladesh.
