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Malaysia’s decision to reopen its labour market to Bangladeshi workers through a list of just 25 recruiting agencies has triggered concerns that the controversial syndication system could return, driving up migration costs and exposing workers to exploitation.
Malaysia’s Foreign Workers Centralized Management System (FWCMS) on Friday published the list of 25 Bangladeshi agencies approved to recruit and send workers to the Southeast Asian country, without disclosing the criteria used to select them.
The decision has revived concerns over a system used in previous recruitment drives, when Malaysia entrusted a limited number of Bangladeshi agencies with worker recruitment and deployment.
The arrangement was later blamed for creating syndicates and monopolistic practices, amid allegations of corruption that eventually led Malaysia to close its labour market.
“Most of the agencies selected to send workers to Malaysia are not known to all. They lack infrastructure, manpower, past experience and capacity for the task. They are actually allowing influential syndicate members to use their name in exchange of money. All activities will be operated from other offices,” Fakhrul Islam, former joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), told the Daily Sun.
“Members of the previous syndicate or their associates are controlling everything, while 99 per cent of the recruiting agencies are deprived of the due opportunity. It will patronise syndication, making ordinary workers bound to spend more money stipulated by the government,” he added.
Fakhrul warned that fresh allegations of corruption and deception could lead to another closure of the Malaysian market and damage Bangladesh’s reputation globally.
In 2022, agencies owned by ministers and lawmakers, as well as leaders of the now-banned Awami League, were entrusted with recruiting and sending workers to Malaysia.
The latest list does not include any agency directly owned by an MP or a BNP leader. However, it includes agencies owned by associates of five MPs and a political leader. Some manpower recruiters said the selected agencies were effectively “fronts” for influential political figures.
Agencies under scrutiny
The Daily Sun visited or contacted 14 of the 25 agencies on the new list.
Al-Aqaba, owned by Jubo Dal Vice-President Atikur Rahman Biswas, is not on the list. However, Mangrove Career, owned by his wife Sabiha Sultana, has been included.
The Daily Sun found that the two agencies share the same address at Shatabdi Centre on Inner Circular Road in Fakirapul. Asked whether Mangrove Career had met Malaysia’s requirements and how it had secured a place on the list, Sabiha, its managing partner, said her husband would be able to provide details.
The correspondent made several attempts to meet Biswas and contacted him by phone, but he did not respond.
An official of Goodness Service, another agency on the list, said its owner, Saiful Islam, was currently in Malaysia.
Although the agency owned by Abdul Hai, a leader of the activities-banned Awami League who was part of the 25-agency syndicate in the previous recruitment process, is not on the latest list, his wife Laila Arzuman Banu’s agency, United Gulf Service, has been included.
A-Plus International, owned by the proprietor of Golden Arrow, which was also part of the previous 25-agency syndicate, is likewise on the new list.
The list also includes Motherland Overseas, owned by Monir Ahmed, who is an accused in a case over attacks on agency owners opposing syndication; Chandpur International Limited, owned by Mohammad Shahjalal; and Earth Smart Bangladesh Limited, owned by Mahfuzur Rahman.
Photos posted on Facebook suggest that Shahjalal was active in Awami League politics.
Old system, old concerns
Sources involved in the sector and an owner of one of the 25 agencies said the agencies secured their inclusion by paying Tk5 crore each as a “contribution”.
They are expected to pay another Tk12 crore each, although the amount will be deducted when workers are sent. In 2022, agencies had to pay Tk1,15,000 per worker to obtain permission to send workers.
Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said the Malaysian government had not formally informed Bangladesh about the list.
“We have sent a letter to Malaysia seeking details about the selection of the 25 agencies,” he said on Saturday.
“The list of agencies had been provided through Malaysia’s FWCMS, a platform operated by a private company. Since the governments of the two countries were discussing the issue, information provided by a private entity could not be accepted,” he said.
The minister said the memorandum of understanding between the two countries remains valid until December and workers must therefore be sent under the existing rules until then.
FWCMS is an authorised platform of the Malaysian government operated by Bestinet, a private company. Its chief executive, Dato’ Aminul Islam bin Abdul Noor, is a Malaysian citizen of Bangladeshi origin.
Bestinet was also involved in managing MiGRAAM, the system used to register health examinations of workers travelling to Malaysia.
In Bangladesh, MiGRAAM was controlled by Ruhul Amin Swapan, owner of Catharsis International and a former BAIRA secretary general. Swapan has been living abroad since 5 August.
Following allegations of corruption in the previous Malaysia recruitment process, the current government cancelled the licences of 49 agencies, including Catharsis International.
Observing the development, Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP) Chairperson Shakirul Islam said, “Whenever syndicates emerge, it is ultimately aspiring workers who pay the price. With limited job opportunities at home, outbound workers are desperate, and unscrupulous groups exploit that desperation.”
Referring to Malaysia’s labour market being closed four times in the past, he said they had expected syndication to end under the new government.
“But it hasn’t. The government cancelled the licences of 49 recruiting agencies over their alleged involvement in syndication patronised by the previous government. It now seems like political eyewash, as syndication and political influence continue and there is no one to stop them,” Shakirul added.
Agencies, political parties voice concern
Twenty recruiting agency owners and former BAIRA leaders on Sunday expressed concern that restricting Malaysia-bound recruitment to a limited number of agencies would create opportunities for syndication and monopolistic practices.
“Despite having around 2,500 government-licensed legitimate recruiting agencies, why should Malaysia’s labour market be restricted to just 25 agencies? If a particular group is given exclusive privileges while other legitimate agencies are excluded, it will undermine healthy competition in the labour market and create a risk of higher migration costs,” they said in a statement.
They put forward four demands: ending the monopoly system, opening the market to all legitimate and qualified agencies, ensuring reasonable and low migration costs, and introducing a One Stop Service through the government-run Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL).
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General and former MP Mia Golam Porwar on Sunday strongly condemned what he described as a “deep conspiracy” by a section of the government to hand over Bangladesh’s Malaysian labour market to a syndicate and “fascists”.
“In the past, syndicates formed through a limited number of agencies led to workers being charged excessive fees, causing thousands of workers to suffer. There are concerns that the same system could once again push the cost of travelling to
Malaysia to as much as Tk6-7 lakh per worker, placing an enormous financial burden on ordinary workers and their families, ”his statement said. Bangladesh and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding in 2021 on recruiting Bangladeshi workers. Bangladesh initially submitted a list of 1,500 agencies, from which Malaysia selected 25.
The agreed migration cost was Tk78,990 per worker. However, a survey by a Malaysian labour organisation found that workers paid an average of Tk5.44 lakh, including syndicate contributions and visa costs.
Between August 2022 and May 2024, around 4.76 lakh workers travelled to Malaysia at huge expense, but many did not receive the jobs they had been promised. Following the irregularities, Malaysia closed its labour market to Bangladeshi workers on 31 May 2024, and it has remained closed since then.
Around 17,000 workers who had completed all the required procedures were unable to travel to Malaysia when the market closed.