The news that Malaysia is going to recruit some 200,000 Bangladeshi workers over the next six months is most welcome. As could be learnt, the state minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives recently told the press that the recruitment would begin in phases from the end of September and be completed within six months. It is further gratifying to know that another 10,000 workers are expected to get the opportunity to go to Malaysia free of migration cost. Given that Malaysia already hosts around 0.80 million documented Bangladeshi workers, reopening its labour market on such a scale would give a fresh boost to Bangladesh's manpower export and remittance earning. Clearly, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's visit to Malaysia last June has led to a better understanding between Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur on labour recruitment. The two governments also agreed to review the existing arrangement and work towards a more credible and transparent recruitment framework.
There is obviously reason to be optimistic about the latest development. However, one cannot also be oblivious of the fact that the Bangladesh-Malaysia labour corridor had often been dogged by syndicates, excessive recruitment costs, corruption, fake job orders and other forms of workers' exploitation. During the recruitment process between 2022 and 2024, Bangladeshi jobseekers would have to pay many times more than the officially fixed migration cost. Worse still, some workers, after reaching Malaysia with valid papers, would find that the promised jobs did not exist. There were also reports of withholding of passports, non-payment of wages to workers and their abuse and ill-treatment. At one stage, the Malaysian government set May 31, 2024 as a hard deadline for entry of foreign workers and subsequently froze fresh recruitment from Bangladesh. Thousands of workers with clearances, visas or travel preparations were unable to reach Malaysia before the deadline, leaving many families in severe financial distress.
It is precisely for this reason that this latest announcement on the job opportunity of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia should lead to recruitment with utmost transparency. Increasing the number of agencies or introducing a digital platform will not by itself guarantee fair recruitment if the system remains open to manipulation. The lesson of the past is that unscrupulous recruiters at home, fake Malaysian employers and corrupt officials can together turn overseas employment into a trap for unsuspecting jobseekers. So, before a worker is allowed to pay money, undergo medical tests or purchase an air ticket, the authenticity of the employer, actual job vacancy, wage, workplace and accommodation should be independently verified. The recruitment cost should also be clearly fixed, publicly announced and made digitally traceable so middlemen cannot charge whatever amount they please. Most importantly, responsibilities of recruiting agencies, employers and government authorities of both countries should be clearly defined and an effective grievance mechanism should be in place for cheated workers.
Bangladesh cannot afford to measure success simply by the number of workers sent abroad or the amount of remittance they send home. What matters equally is whether those workers migrate safely at reasonable cost, get jobs and wages promised and are treated with dignity in the host country. In fact, the overseas workers who support the economy with their hard-earned foreign currency should not be left at the mercy of recruiting syndicates and fraudulent employers. The government should therefore maintain close supervision over recruitment from selection at home to placement at the workplace in Malaysia, while the Bangladesh mission there should receive complaints and intervene promptly in cases of abuse, wage denial or joblessness. In fine, the government must make sure that this fresh opening of Malaysia's labour market is free from the past practice of cheating, suffering and exploitation of Bangladeshi workers.
