Recruitment of Bangladeshi workers

We are optimistic about the bilateral talks between Malaysia and Bangladesh to accelerate the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers under the government-to-government (G2G) system to the Southeast Asian nation.

As Malaysian employees only hire Bangladeshis for the plantation sector currently, it would be a highly beneficial move for Bangladesh as well as for migrating workers if Malaysia opens up new jobs in the construction, manufacturing and service sectors, providing legal employment to at least 20,000 to 30,000 Bangladeshis.

Since the G2G Memorandum of Understanding was signed in November 2012, only 8000 people have been legally employed in Malaysia, which is an insufficient number considering that a few lakh Bangladeshis aspire to obtain jobs in the Southeast Asian nation. Strict quotas for legal employment means that a lot of our workers are forced to obtain jobs illegally and lead risky and insecure lives.

Our government must ensure that Malaysia opens up all its sectors for Bangladeshi workers, and that it does so without a long delay. In addition, the government must prepare itself so it can successfully handle the employment and migration of workers on a large-scale. It should introduce a system to involve private sector in manpower export to enable our workers to compete successfully in the Malaysian market.

Although it is hoped that the G2G process would reduce the intensity of trafficking of Bangladeshis, it cannot by itself resolve illegal trafficking.  The government must also introduce and implement a strong monitoring system to ensure that workers are not duped by fraudulent traffickers in the guise of manpower agents.