Home ›› 07 May 2023 ›› Front
Top-up e-wallet – the only system available under the MiGRAMS portal to pay workers’ registration fee for Bangladeshis heading to Malaysia – is no longer available since mid-January this year, effectively preventing dozens of agencies from exporting manpower.
An investigation conducted by The Business Post revealed a sinister racket led by Bangladeshi origin Dato Sri Aminul Islam bin Abdul Nor, who owns Bestinet, which in turn owns the MiGRAMS portal.
He is controlling every aspect of the manpower export process in Malaysia through this system.
Though the e-wallet disappeared from the MiGRAMS system, a number of agencies – backed and controlled by Aminul – are paying workers’ registration fees and clearing workers using channels exclusively available to them.
This underhanded tactic is not only safeguarding the monopoly of Bestinet and the agencies it controls, but it is severely damaging Bangladesh’s potential to export manpower to Malaysia by preventing other agencies from paying the 100 ringgit fee using MiGRAMS.
This issue has brought uncertainty in the process of sending thousands of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia.
What’s the process?
MiGRAMS is an online portal where every aspirant worker need to be registered to undergo health screening by paying a 100 ringgit registration fee.
Workers registration is done after quota approval of workers demanded by Malaysian employers, and the demands are then distributed among Bangladeshi recruiting agencies through Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS).
To work in Malaysia, a worker has to collect a Calling Visa and then E-Visa. Workers also need attestation from the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to fly to Malaysia. A worker needs a health screening report first as a prerequisite for getting a calling visa.
Recruiting agencies complete this registration process and pay the fee on behalf of the workers. After paying the fees, recruiting agents get credit in the MiGRAMS top-up e-wallet. This crucial feature for paying this registration fee has been erased by Bestinet.
What’s the impact?
This manipulation is depriving Bangladeshi workers from entering the Malaysian labour market, posing a serious threat to the sector’s rich potential.
Dozens of agencies who have a good reputation and track record in manpower exports are now in a crisis, and thousands of Bangladeshi workers are suffering due to MiGRAMS.
Industry insiders say Bestinet – the company who owns MiGRAMS – is now allocating credit only to agencies in the racket. Thus many recruiting agencies are being deprived, despite having adequate demand for workers.
Aminul, with his Bangladeshi partners, is illegally collecting more than the set MiGRAMS registration fee of RM100 for each worker in Bangladesh. So, the racket is both disrupting the operations of other agencies, while making additional money from poor Bangladeshi workers.
Speaking to The Business Post, proprietor Mahbub Miah Babul of Darbar Global Overseas said, “Nothing can be done if MiGRAMS registration is not completed beforehand.
“We have already written letters to Bestinet, and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment. We hope the authorities concerned will take appropriate action to break this racket.”
He continued, “Apart from difficulties in accessing the e-wallet, we face a number of issues with MiGRAMS. Very often a worker needs to perform health screening again when MiGRAMS authorities claim it was not carried out properly before.
“In such a case, we have to pay them 100 ringgit for the same worker each time the test is conducted.”
It should be noted, many Bangladeshi recruiting agencies could not find any e-wallet option in the MiGRAMS system from mid-January this year. Later on May 2, dozens of recruiting agencies sent a letter to the Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed for a remedy to this key issue.
The Malaysian human resource ministry too wrote to the Bestinet several times in March 3, March 7 and March 8 to make top-up e-wallet service available to all.
Later in March 20, in a letter the Malaysian ministry warned Bestinet, saying that the ministry has received complaints that Bangladeshi recruiting agencies are still unable to use the service. This key feature remains unavailable to many recruiting agencies till the filing of this report.
This letter read, “The ministry hopes that this is the last letter submitted to Bestinet regarding this matter. The ministry is very concerned about this matter because it does not support the implementation of the Bangladesh Employment MoU concluded by these two countries to run smoothly and to achieve the goals desired by the both countries.
“Requesting your immediate cooperation to take appropriate action against this complaint.”
Then on March 22, April 2 and April 16, Bangladeshi recruiting agencies sent emails to Bestinet asking the company to re-enable top-up e-wallet, so that they can pay the registration fee. Their requests have fallen into deaf ears.
‘Nowhere but in Bangladesh’
Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, owner of Sadia International and a former secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said, “There are now two types of problems of paying registration fees from Bangladesh.
“Firstly, there is no legal way to send money to a Malaysian company from Bangladesh. And secondly, Bestinet is only providing a manual top-up facility to agencies that are part of the racket created by Aminul.”
He further said, “As per the MoU signed between Malaysia and Bangladesh, all expenses related to working in Malaysian – including system provider’s fees – must be provided by the employer.
“And health screening should be done by the Bangladeshi medical centers under the supervision of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment. Bestinet, through MiGRAMS registration, has taken the manpower export process to Malaysia hostage.”
He added that the Bangladesh recruiting agencies demand a cancellation of the MiGRAMS system.
Why do we need to pay?
Initially, the MiGRAMS registration fees were supposed to be paid by Malaysian employers, as stated in a letter sent by the Malaysian foreign affairs ministry to Bangladesh on September 13 last year.
But in another letter issued on September 27, just after 13 days, the Malaysian foreign ministry informed the Bangladesh High Commission to Kuala Lumpur that each workers’ 100 ringgit registration fee to MiGRAMS shall be paid by recruiting agencies in Bangladesh.
However, only Bangladesh is exceptional in this regard, as Malaysian employers pay these fees in other 13 source countries.
Md Mizanur Rahman, managing director of Elegants Overseas, said, “In case of other source countries, including Nepal, there are no ties between the health screening process of workers and MiGRAMS.
“These countries carry out workers health screening from their respective government approved medical centres. Moreover, employers pay the registration fee in all other source countries, and the same procedure should be maintained in Bangladesh as well.”
Poor workers the ultimate victim
Poor people who seek a better life by going abroad for work are the primary victims of this racket. Thousands of workers are presently trying to get registered. They gave money to recruiters, and are now waiting to fly to Malaysia.
Md Sujon, hailing from Chattogram, said, “I gave Tk 1,00,000 to a recruiter. I loaned the money at a 5 per cent interest. I am now waiting for a health screening. After this, a visa will be issued. I am waiting for at least two months to undergo this process.”
Recruiting agencies are saying they are helpless to mitigate the issues caused by MiGRAMS, and aspirant migrants blaming the agencies for their suffering.
Golam Sarwar, managing partner of Haidory Trade International, said, “Complexity in MiGRAMS registration is delaying the manpower export process and creating uncertainty. Moreover, Bangladesh is being deprived from remittance.”
Does MiGRAMS control the manpower business?
Every worker needs to undergo health screening from selected Bangladeshi medical centres. In other sourcing countries, MiGRAMS is not necessary for the health screening process and it does not require payment.
This paid system was implemented in Bangladesh in a bid to put full control of manpower exports in Malaysia at the hands of Aminul’s racket.
Due to the disappearance of the e-wallet top-up system, recruiting agencies need to convince this system owner Bestinet to facilitate the registration fee payment.
Md Mizanur Rahman, managing director Elegants Overseas, said, “For last one and a half months, we cannot register in MiGRAMS. An Aminul-led racket is trying to establish that the other agencies that are not in his control are incompetent.
“Though we are failing to pay the fee, Amin controlled agencies are carrying out health screening and paying the fees bypassing the MiGRAMS’ e-Wallet top-up option. I have an order for 1,500 workers, but they are struggling to complete registration.”
Seeking anonymity, a recruiting agent said, “Catharsis International owner Ruhul Amin Shawpon is collecting registration fees in Bangladesh on behalf of Bestinet.”
