3.5 lakh Bangladeshi workers to be legalised in Malaysia: minister

Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam BSc today said the Malaysian government has decided to issue temporary work permits to undocumented workers.

The minister said the present government has initiated a process for the legalisation of 20.67 lakh undocumented Bangladeshi workers abroad, including 8 lakh in Saudi Arabia, 2.67 lakh in Malaysia and 10 lakh in Iraq, through diplomatic efforts.

As part of the decision, around 3.5 lakh undocumented Bangladeshi workers would be legalised in Malaysia and get scope for working there," he said while replying to a tabled question from opposition bench member M Shawkat Chowdhury of Nilphamary-4 in the Jatiya Sangsad.

The minister said the Malaysian government has taken the decision on legalisation process on the basis of the telephonic conversations between Bangladesh prime minister and Malaysian prime minister on January 15, 2017.

Otherwise, the undocumented workers would have to come back home, he added.

He said that informed the House that the Malaysian government has undertaken Rehiring Programme for legalisation of undocumented workers.

Nurul Islam BSc said the timeframe of the Rehiring Programme has been increased by six months more due to diplomatic efforts of the Bangladesh government. 

The minister said that over 2 lakh Bangladeshi workers were registered under the Rehiring Programme while the rest of 1.5 lakh would get similar scopes, he added.

"Over one crore Bangladeshi workers are employed in 162 countries across the world," he said.