A deal between Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur allowing Bangladeshi workers to be recruited for employment in Malaysia after a six year stoppage has also banned Bangladeshis from marrying Malaysians.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in Dhaka late Wednesday Malaysia will give Bangladesh priority when it hires professionals, including doctors, engineers, nurses, paramedics and teachers, from 18 countries.

The MOU, signed at the end of official talks between visiting Malaysian Minister for Human Resources Fong Chang Onn and Bangladesh State Minister for Overseas Employment Quamrul Islam, contained 15 terms and conditions for jobs in Malaysia.

One of the conditions is that no worker will be permitted to marry a Malaysian citizen. If any worker does so, he or she will lose his or her job immediately and be sent back home.

"We agreed to hire manpower from Bangladesh after a long time as the workers are good and we have a huge demand in Malaysia," Fong Chang Onn told the Daily Star newspaper after signing the MOU.

Other conditions

In 1997, Kuala Lumpur stopped recruiting workers from Bangladesh following a huge inflow of Bangladeshis who did not have valid documents and amid reports of expatriate workers marrying Malaysians.

Under the new MOU, recruited Bangladeshis will get the same status and financial benefits as Malaysian workers and the tenure of the contracts will be three to five years.

Among the other conditions were that Bangladeshis applying for jobs in Malaysia must be aged between 18 and 40 and must speak English or Malay.

Bangladesh, the world's third largest Muslim country, and Malaysia are members of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Conference which ended its 10th summit last week near Kuala Lumpur.

More then 222,600 Bangladeshis went abroad for employment in 2000, mostly in the Middle East and East Asian countries, down from 268,100 recruited the previous year, according to the latest officials figures. - AFP