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MALAYSIAN LABOUR MARKET REOPENING
Little preparation, inexperienced agencies, process still in limbo
Nearly two weeks after Malaysia’s reopening of its labour market to Bangladeshis, uncertainty continues to grip the recruitment process, with neither the government nor recruiting agencies appearing fully prepared to begin sending workers.
Despite the government’s projection of the reopening as a “historic achievement” and the announcement to start sending workers in September, the government-owned and private recruiting agencies are still unclear about the actual recruitment procedures, demand submission, criteria for selecting workers, their numbers, and migration costs, leaving prospective migrants and recruiters in a state of confusion.
“So far, we have not received any instructions regarding sending workers. We still do not know under which of the 25 agencies we will send workers, how we will obtain work orders, what the number of workers and migration cost will be. When we contacted the ministry, they too could not provide us with any information,” Abdus Salam, proprietor of Bangladesh One Overseas Limited, one of the 312 recruiting agencies named to work under 26 key recruiting agencies to send workers to Malaysia, told the Daily Sun.
Dillydallying in starting process
Malaysia’s Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) first revealed a list of 25+1 agencies on 21 August. A week later, on 28 August, it came up with another list of 312 “associate recruiting agencies”.
Since then no major development other than confirming the names of 17 accredited medical centres for biomedical examination of prospective workers has taken place.
The existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia expires on 31 December, making it difficult to meet aspirant workers’ expectations if recruitment does not begin soon, recruiting agency owners said.
Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), the only state-run manpower recruiting agency, is entitled to send 10,000 workers free of cost, while 62 of the 312 additional recruiting agencies will work under it.
According to Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury, the process of sending workers to Malaysia will begin with BOESL sending workers.
However, BOESL Managing Director Mohammad Rashedul Haque said, “The Malaysia issue has not been resolved yet. We don’t know when it will start or what will happen. We only see reports in newspapers, like you do, saying this is happening or that is happening.”
Asked why the government is yet to come up with the details of the recruitment system, a senior official of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, wishing not to be named, said, “Things have not been discussed among us. We are still in the dark about Malaysia. There has been no news for a long time. Even the top officials seem to have gone completely silent.”
The senior official, however, hinted that there may be a meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) in Malaysia where representatives of the two countries will fix the whole process of sending workers, including determining the migration cost. Unscrupulous agencies deceiving workers
Taking advantage of the dillydallying in process a number of recruiting agencies are already running flashy advertisements, conducting interviews and arranging medical tests.
On Thursday, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training fined one such agency, Triple A Overseas, Tk50,000 for making fraudulent claims regarding recruitment in Malaysia, and sealed its office.
Agency selection raises questions
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) members have raised serious questions regarding the experience and capability of the recruiting agencies selected to send workers to Malaysia.
Malaysia has again not specified any particular criteria for finalising the recruiting agencies. Bestinet, the company that owns Migrant Management System (MiGRAMS), the software used by Malaysia’s FWCMS for worker recruitment, has taken advantage of the opportunity.
Of the selected 25 agencies, 17 have no experience in sending workers to Malaysia. The remaining eight agencies have collectively sent 1,612 workers to the country.
The 17 agencies with no experience of sending workers to Malaysia are Tania Trade, Satkhira International, A-Plus, Al Hayat Overseas, Valley Trade, Khan Jahan Ali Overseas, Bengal Human Resource, Earth Smart, At-Taqwa, Motherland, Mangrove, Jewel Rinku Enterprise, Bangladesh One Overseas, Anwesha Air, Chandpur International, Godness Services and Bhaluka Overseas.
The agency named Anchor Care Global Migration and Consultant has sent only 371 workers abroad, including 11 to Malaysia. Bangladesh One Overseas Limited, meanwhile, has obtained clearance for 795 workers, but has no experience of sending any workers to Malaysia. Both agencies are also included in this year’s list of 25 agencies.
Migration expert Asif Munier said that the developments surrounding the Malaysian labour market indicate that the syndication process is taking place much as it did before with no change in the process.
“Past experience with sending workers to Malaysia has not been good. The government could also prepare a report on the past records of these agencies. If any irregularities or problems are found with an agency, the government should inform the Malaysian authorities so that it can be removed from the list,” he said.
“Otherwise, if Malaysia-bound workers face problems similar to those in the past, the government and the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment will not be able to evade responsibility,” he added.
Confusion still persists
While speaking to reporters after a courtesy meeting with the Malaysian ambassador Mohd Shuhada Othman at the Secretariat, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam on 30 August announced that Malaysia will begin recruiting workers from September and it will take 2 lakh Bangladeshi workers within the next six months.
Rejecting the claim, Malaysian government spokesperson Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said, “It does not represent the official decision of the Bangladeshi government. That is what the Human Resources Minister informed me. So, it is not an official position.”
Asked about the confusing situation, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said, “There is no point in listening to what others say. We have already made our position clear through a press release. The market has been opened. Now, everyone will know about the demands that will come in the coming days. At present, we are working on the 10,000-worker demand we have received.”
“We are continuing discussions on how, in how many phases and for which jobs they will be recruited. Hopefully, we will be able to share some good news on this very soon,” he added.