Malaysia's labour market reopening to Bangladeshis

The Malaysian labour market is opening soon to Bangladeshi expatriates. However, the country – one of the major destinations for Bangladeshi workers -- has also imposed 10 conditions on recruitment agencies.

A press release from Malaysia says recruiting agencies from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar will be approved based on these conditions being met, reports bdnews24.com.

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment says that this is a “new opportunity to send workers” to Malaysia.

The ministry states that, in the past, recruiting agencies from other countries had been given greater opportunities in Malaysia, but the interim government has repeatedly requested that all Bangladeshi recruiting agencies with valid licences and which maintain consistency and quality should be listed in the same manner as those of other countries.

The notification said that after detailed discussions at the third joint working group meeting held between Bangladesh and Malaysia in Dhaka on May 21 and May 22 this year, the Malaysian delegation promised to determine the criteria for selecting private recruiting agents and inform Bangladesh of them in order to provide the same opportunities as other countries.

In that context, the country received the selection criteria for recruiting agents through a letter on Tuesday. It was also reported that in the future, recruiting agents from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar will be selected based on these uniform criteria.

These criteria are:

>> Must have at least five years of satisfactory experience in conducting activities after obtaining a license.

>> Must have evidence of sending at least 3,000 workers abroad in the last five years.

>> Must have experience in sending workers and engaging employees in at least three different destination countries in the last five years.

>> The recruiting agency must have a valid license from all relevant authorities in Bangladesh for training, assessment, recruitment and employment abroad.

>> The recruiting agency must have a Certificate of Good Conduct from the appropriate authority of the country sending the workers.

>> The agency must not have a record of being involved in forced labour, human trafficking, violation of labour laws, extortion, money laundering or any other financial crime and illegal immigration activities.

>> The recruiting agency must have its own training and assessment centre with comprehensive facilities. These centres must have accommodation, technical training facilities and guidance modules.

>> The agency must have certificates of satisfactory performance for immigration activities issued by five separate international employers.

>> The recruiting agency must have a permanent office with a minimum area of 10,000 sq feet, which has been operating for at least three years, and must have infrastructural facilities such as conducting employee selection and recruitment activities.

>> The recruiting agency must have evidence of having legally and systematically followed the conditions of the recruitment process of destination countries (including Malaysia) in the past when sending workers abroad.

The expatriates’ welfare ministry says that the Bangladesh government will request the Malaysian government to list all recruiting agents who meet the above conditions to send workers to Malaysia.

Accordingly, the ministry has called on Bangladeshi recruiting agents with valid licences who are able to meet the prescribed selection criteria to submit applications along with the necessary documents to the ministry by Nov 7.

On Jun 1, 2024, the Malaysian government announced the closure of the country's labour market for expatriate workers.

Previously, May 31 was the last day for an expatriate worker to enter the country on a work visa. On that day, a large number of workers from Bangladesh arrived at Shahjalal International Airport to travel to the country.

However, due to the collusion, the price of flight tickets on the route was hiked several fold. As a result, some people got visas but could not get tickets. Some also bought fake tickets. A few who had been promised last-minute tickets did not get them and were turned away.

According to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare, about 18,000 recruited workers could not go to Malaysia at the time.

After that, despite repeated attempts and lobbying, the government has not been able to send a single worker to Malaysia. Some of those who had paid money to recruitment agencies to go to Malaysia have received a partial refund, while others have not.