‘Syndicate responsible for Malaysia’s labour recruitment ban now controls airfare’

‘Syndicate responsible for Malaysia’s labour recruitment ban now controls airfare’

By The Daily Star




A SYNDICATE responsible for Malaysia’s ban on migrant worker recruitment from Bangladesh over corruption and irregularities is still on the prowl by controlling airfares to the Middle East.

In the past, the entire process of sending manpower to Malaysia was in the hands of only 10 companies, according to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) standing committee chairman Dr Mohammed Faruque.

“Their corruption and irregularities made the Malaysian Government stop taking workers from Bangladesh at one stage. Now the same clique is manoeuvring to send migrant workers to the country through 25 companies,” he said.

The manpower exporters made the complaint at the first meeting of the FBCCI’s Standing Committee on Manpower and Skill Development on Dec 29. Concerned over the manpower export syndicate, they called for Government policy support.

Before COVID-19, the average fare of a plane ticket from Bangladesh to the Middle East was 50,000 taka (RM2,435) which now has now doubled to over a lakh (RM4,870).

Both migrant workers and manpower exporters are suffering due to high ticket prices. They said the syndicate is responsible for this price increase.

The manpower exporters claimed that the syndicate wanted to streamline the process of sending workers to Malaysia just like air tickets in the Middle East.

On Dec 19, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed at the ministerial level of the two countries to send workers from Bangladesh to Malaysia. Relevant standard operating procedures (SOPs) are to be formulated soon.

At the meeting, other members of the standing committee also expressed their concerns about the existence of syndicates in the manpower sector.

Citing the examples of Nepal, India, Pakistan, they said, each country is exporting manpower to Malaysia through more than 1,500 recruiting agents. Therefore, there is no reason to limit the numbers of agents in Bangladesh.

Standardise air travel cost

The manpower exporters demanded the inclusion of a nominated member of the FBCCI in the meeting of the Malaysia-Bangladesh Joint Working Committee to break up the syndicate in this sector. Also discussed were amendments to the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, raising the incentive rate on remittances from 2% to 3%.

FBCCI vice-president and director-in-charge of the manpower standing committee Md Habib Ullah Dawn recommended bringing the manpower sector under Government incentives to deal with the epidemic. He said the manpower sector is contributing 12% to Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The service charge taken by recruiting agencies in Bangladesh to send workers to Malaysia should not exceed 10,000 taka (RM486.90), according to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) director-general Shahidul Alam.

“It (service charge) should be reasonable,” he said, responding to a question from the media during a workshop organised by BMET.

According to the Expatriates’ Welfare Ministry, costs incurred in Malaysia, including service charge taken by Malaysian recruiting agencies, will be borne by employers.

The Bangladeshi Government has yet to fix a migration cost which will be incurred in Bangladesh to send workers to Malaysia.

The accumulated amount should not be high, said Shahidul, adding that they want the transactions made during migration to Malaysia to go through a bank or an online system. – Jan 1, 2021



Editor’s Note: This story is based on the original article entitled “Syndicate Responsible for Malaysia’s Ban on Recruitment from Bangladesh Now Controlling Airfare” (dated Dec 29) that appeared on The Daily Star news portal.