Editorial
Overseas recruitment procedure being streamlined
Deal in the offing with Malaysian government
With repeat scandals rocking the recruitment process of Bangladeshi workers destined to work for overseas labour markets, it is welcome news to learn that a memorandum of understanding between the Bangladeshi and Malaysian governments (MoU) is about to be signed. The MoU, once inked, could open up a new era in regularising the employment process for our workers to Malaysia, one of the most important international labour markets for Bangladeshi workers. It would bring transparency in financial transactions, where intended jobseekers would have to deposit fees via banks and more importantly, these workers would be registered online.
With the recruitment process overseen by Bureau of Manpower and Training, a government body under the ministry of labour, some of the worst excesses committed over the years by a largely unregulated private recruiting sector in terms of both financial fraud and human trafficking, could hopefully be contained. Such malpractices led Malaysia to halt recruiting Bangladeshis in 2009. Now that recruitment in one of the most important markets will be a State-to-State affair, the cost to potential overseas workers should be reduced drastically. Media reports have exposed the fleecing mentality of some private recruiting agency operators charging as high Tk200,000 for a job in Malaysia, whereas recruitment under government patronage should see that cost reduce to Tk84,000.
The MoU will only be effective if the government is able to introduce a computerised database which will house all relevant information on potential candidates and one that will be used by both countries as a selection tool for recruiting workers. Having access to information in digital format significantly cuts down processing time and such a system has been used successfully by South Korea to recruit workers from Bangladesh. Needless to say, the cutting off of the private recruiting agencies in both countries from this lucrative multi-billion Taka annual trade in overseas labour has not gone down well. It is perhaps one of the reasons why it took Bangladesh nearly four years to come to the point where it is in a position to take proactive measures to regulate in part, the second largest foreign exchange earning segment of the economy.
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