Malaysia to take migrants after Covid improves

Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad. Photo: Collected

Expatriates Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad has said Malaysia's labour market for Bangladeshi workers will reopen only after the Covid-19 situation becomes normal there.

"Opening of the market means workers making trips. This will not happen. We will have to wait until everything becomes normal," he said.

The minister was briefing the media at his ministry yesterday after a virtual meeting on labour issues between the two countries.

Malaysia suspended hiring Bangladeshi workers in September, 2018 following allegations of malpractices in the recruitment process and high recruitment costs.

Officials of the two countries held the Joint Working Group meeting in the last two days. The next JWG meeting is expected to be held at a sooner date agreed by the two countries.

The minister yesterday said they have agreed on some issues while some others remained unresolved which would be discussed internally by the two countries.

Imran said they have requested Malaysia to take back about 20,000 to 22,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers who remained stranded at home after coming here on vacation before the pandemic.

He said his Malaysian counterpart agreed in principle on the issue.

The minister said they requested Malaysia to cut the fee for Bangladeshi migrant workers who want to take the opportunity to get their status regularised under the Malaysian government's ongoing "recalibration" programme.

Imran said his primary goal is to ensure sending workers to Malaysia at a low cost after reopening of its labour market.

There are demands for workers in Malaysia's construction and plantation sectors, he added.

At the JWG meeting yesterday, the two sided could not reach a decision on the number of recruiting agencies to be allowed to send workers to Malaysia.

Speaking at the briefing, Expatriates Welfare Secretary Ahmed Munirus Saleheen said they want participation of maximum number of Bangladeshi recruiting agencies in the process.

The issue was discussed prominently at the meeting, he added.

Earlier in October last year, Malaysia agreed to reopen its labour market for Bangladeshi migrant workers.

During an online meeting with Expatriates Welfare Minister Imran, Malaysia's Human Resources Minister M Saravanan hoped that labour recruitment would resume once the Covid-19 situation improves.