Shawdesh Desk:

A syndicate of Bangladesh recruiting agencies has been desperate to resist reopening the Malaysian labour market for Bangladeshis though the Malaysian government has already prepared 1.5 lakh visas as part of completing the process.

Malaysia has supported Bangladesh in reopening the labour market, but the South Asian country could not send a single worker since three months of the signing of their agreement.

Sources said a group of Bangladeshi recruiting agencies is pulling the strings from behind to delay the immigration process.

The industry insiders pointed finger to an influential leader of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).

The leader has been running evil attempts to bar the reopening of the labour market in Malaysia for Bangladeshis.

Officials concerned claim that the new opportunities have been created for Bangladeshis as the leading employment destination reopened after a 40-month gap.

Under the circumstances, the delay has diverted the opportunity to Nepal.

Hundreds of thousands of unemployed Bangladeshi workers are the victims of the lingering process.

On the other hand, many expatriate workers have been suffering from depression due to the working gap for a long time amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The ray of hope for the Malaysia-bound workers is fading away, experts fear.

Some 600 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies deal the immigration of expatriate workers to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.

The agencies charged Tk 3 lakh to 5 lakh from each aspirant worker claiming the higher rate in visa dealing. The pressure on the Middle East market may relax when the Malaysia market will open for all.

The syndicate tried to bar the Malaysia market to keep unethical business in sending workers in the Middle East.

They fear losing workers for selling high-tariff visa for the Middle East. So, the agencies are illogically opposing the reopening of the Malaysia labour market, insiders alleged.

There are many allegations against the BAIRA leader for his opposition to the reopening of the Malaysia market with an influential syndicate. They tried to bar the noble initiative through personal intention and circulated propaganda through media.

Over 1 million of Bangladeshis are now working in Malaysia. Bangladesh sent around 1.75 lakh workers to Malaysia in 2018.

Some ten agencies got permission from respective governments to deal the immigration. The deprived agencies protested the move and Malaysia closed the door for Bangladeshi workers then.

The situation has worse when Malaysia stopped recruitment of foreign unskilled workers amid corona virus pandemic. The authorities of Bangladesh and Malaysia agreed to resume the labour market after a long discussion on December 19, 2021. The workers could go to Malaysia within a month, according to the agreement. The country has already prepared 150 thousand work permit Visa for Bangladeshi.

However, there is no significant progress from Bangladesh part. The technical sides are yet to finalise.  The whole process is now uncertain as a syndicate of the recruiting agencies has worsen the situation.