Bangladesh, Malaysia working group meeting likely in May

Bangladesh is expected to hold the next joint working group (JWG) meeting with Malaysia by the end of May to address the overall market situation and plight of Bangladeshi migrant workers there.

The JWG is comprised of officials from both countries and is designed to hold meetings at regular intervals.

Malaysia, one of the largest labour markets for low-paid Bangladeshi migrant workers, has announced a temporary suspension on intaking foreign workers from all of its labour-sourcing countries after May 31.

Many Bangladeshi migrant workers there have experienced hardship, including unemployment, despite entering the country through formal channels.

UN experts on Friday expressed dismay about the situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia.

Md Ruhul Amin, secretary of the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, yesterday said they have already officially communicated with their Malaysian counterparts regarding the JWG meeting.

"We have offered for a meeting by May and it depends on the response from the Malaysian government. However, we are trying to hold it sooner," he told an event called for exchanging post-Eid-ul-Fitr and Bangla New Year greetings with journalists at the capital's Probashi Kalyan Bhaban.

State Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury mentioned that they are making efforts to gather information regarding the concerns expressed by UN experts.

"We will work to resolve problems wherever it happens," he added.

The state minister said one of their prime objectives is to create a skilled workforce and send them abroad for employment through formal channels.

To this end, the technical training centres will be equipped with modern tools and machinery for workers' training, he added.

According to a statement of the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) issued on Friday, the situation of Bangladeshi migrants who have lived in Malaysia for several months or longer is "unsustainable and undignified."

UN experts in the statement noted that many migrants find on arrival in Malaysia that they do not have employment as promised and are often forced into overstaying their visas.

Consequently, these migrants risk arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation, they added.

Responding to a query, Secretary Ruhul Amin said latest report suggests there may be around 5,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia who are unemployed, despite going there in response to employer demands.

This could be about one percent of the total workers migrating there in such a process, he said.

However, the number of unemployed Bangladeshi workers there could be higher if other means of migration, such as using visit visas, are considered, he added.

According to government data, Malaysia has hired more than 4.28 lakh Bangladeshi workers since reopening its labour market for Bangladesh in 2022, lifting a four-year embargo.

In early March this year, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his government would not allow foreign workers into the country under the active quotas starting on June 1, reports New Straits Times.

On March 26, Malaysia's Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong said his government currently maintains a freeze on foreign workers' hiring quotas, according to a report in The Star.

He said any decision regarding the reopening of the foreign workers' quota will be made once the government has full details of workers who have not entered the country by May 31, 2024, and the outcome of the labour recalibration programme (RTK2.0 process), which concludes on June 30, 2024.