Bangladesh embassy denies threat of worker freeze over MOU

Summary

• The Bangladesh High Commission denies the country is planning to stop sending workers to Malaysia if the current recruitment agreement between the two nations is not revised.

• It says Asif Nazrul merely expressed his views over the current MOU.

The Bangladesh High Commission denies the country is threatening to stop sending workers to Malaysia if the current recruitment agreement between the two nations is not amended.

This is in response to a Malaysiakini article on remarks by an adviser to the Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry of Bangladesh.

In the article published Thursday - which cited a report by Bangladeshi news site The Daily Star - Asif Nazrul had said that the current agreement formalises a syndicate system that many want abolished.

However, he said that to abolish the syndicate system, the agreement needs to be amended.

“We can’t force Malaysia to change it (the agreement). If they refuse, we have two options: follow their terms and send workers through 20, 50, or 100 agencies, or stop sending workers altogether,” Asif was quoted as saying.

He added that if he sent workers, he would be accused of being part of the syndicate, while not sending workers would affect tens of thousands of workers.

Just Asif’s views

In a statement today, the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia said Asif's remarks did not constitute a threat to freeze worker recruitment, or a demand for the agreement to be amended.

"Asif, while speaking at a seminar... expressed his views on the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Bangladesh and Malaysia for Employment of Bangladeshi Workers, which allows Malaysia to select a number of recruiting agencies from a list provided by Bangladesh.

"In view of growing demands in Bangladesh to open the market to all recruiting agencies, the honourable adviser opined that, unless the existing MOU is amended, selection of recruiting agencies will continue to remain exclusively in Malaysia's hands/jurisdiction," it said.

The high commission said news citing Asif as threatening a worker freeze misled readers and undermined ongoing talks between Malaysia and Bangladesh to ensure a fair, transparent, ethical, and non-discriminatory recruitment system.

Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry signed the agreement with Bangladesh in December 2021 after the previous deal expired in February 2020, with the new terms set to remain in force until December 2026.

Before signing the new agreement, both countries stated their intention to eliminate the “syndicate” system formed by a select list of agencies handling the recruitment process - a practice linked to rising costs and various irregularities.

However, concerns were raised by the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies, which demanded fair opportunity for all of its approximately 1,600 member agencies to participate in the recruitment process for Malaysia.

Under the agreement, Malaysia proposed a list of 25 Bangladeshi recruitment agents and 250 sub-agents. The proposal, however, was reportedly rejected by Imran Ahmed, the then-minister for overseas employment and migrant welfare.

Ex-minister’s arrest

On Oct 23 last year, Bangladeshi police arrested a former minister linked to a large-scale investigation into labour agencies sending workers to Malaysia.

According to media reports, Imran was detained by Dhaka police, with the capital’s police declining to disclose the reason behind his arrest.

In September, The Business Standard reported that the owner of a labour recruitment agency had filed a police report against 103 individuals, including Imran, alleging involvement in a syndicate that exploited Bangladeshis seeking jobs in Malaysia.

The report alleged corruption and human trafficking tied to the recruitment process, carried out by agencies selected through the agreement between the two governments.

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