4,659 migrant workers went to Malaysia last month

National Desk //

As many as 4,659 migrant workers went to Malaysia for employment in September, after fresh workers started to go to the Southeast Asian country in August following nearly four years of suspension.

According to the data of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) uploaded to its website yesterday, the latest monthly employment in Malaysia saw a jump from August, when 573 workers were hired by the Southeast Asian country.

Malaysia started to take fresh Bangladeshi workers from early August, in line with a new MoU signed between the two countries in December last year.

The MoU lifts the embargo imposed by Malaysia in September 2018 on allegations of “syndication”, malpractices in the recruitment process and high recruitment costs.

But concerns over worker exploitation, timely wage payment, and high migration cost remain.

Shariful Hasan, head of Brac Migration Programme, said the government needs to look at whether Malaysia-bound fresh workers are paying extra to secure a job, and whether they are getting their promised job, wage and other entitlements.

There are allegations that fresh migrant workers are paying between Tk 3.5 lakh and 4 lakh for a job in Malaysia, Shariful told this newspaper over phone.

“Due to high migration costs, workers often face exploitation,” he added.

Malaysia is one of the largest labour markets for Bangladesh. Starting from 1978, Malaysia has so far hired about 10.62 lakh workers from Bangladesh, shows BMET data.

As per the MoU, Malaysia is entitled to select Bangladeshi recruiting agencies, whereas, the Bangladesh expatriates’ welfare ministry will give recruitment approval to agencies based on proper documents.

According to the Malaysian government’s new salary structure, migrant workers are expected to get a monthly salary of at least 1,500 ringgit per month.

In addition, they will be entitled to other benefits including overtime and accommodation.

Contacted over phone, Nazmus Sadat Salim, minister (labour) at the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday said the fresh migrant workers can earn 2,200 to 2,300 ringgit a month from their wage and by doing overtime.

According to BMET’s latest data, Malaysia rounds up the top five destination countries in September.

As many as 90,814 migrant workers went overseas in September for employment, which is a decline from 92,908 workers going overseas in August, show BMET data.

In the first nine months of this year, over 8.74 lakh migrant workers have gone overseas for employment.