Ease problems facing Bangladesh workers going abroad
01 February 2023
It would indeed be a good piece of news if Malaysian authorities adopt an open system allowing all licensed agencies in Bangladesh to send workers to Malaysia free of cost or at minimum cost. The Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail is going to make a visit to Bangladesh on February 4 and Dhaka is expecting that. However, better news for Bangladesh would be if Bangladesh becomes successful in eliminating problems that are plaguing the sector, the second most important driver of Bangladesh's economy after garment export.
Malaysia may take workers from Bangladesh at free of cost for a certain period but it cannot do that always. Moreover, though Malaysia is a major destination of Bangladeshi workers, it is only one of the many countries including the countries of Europe that take Bangladesh workers, not to mention the gulf countries.
Therefore, what is important is that the authorities in Bangladesh sincerely work on sending workers to foreign lands in a hassle-free manner. They must ensure that these workers do not fall in the trap of middleman or fake people/agencies or do not go to their destination with valid documents. Also important is to ensure that honest people from Bangladesh are going to earn money abroad, not thieves or criminals who only bring disgrace to the nation, making the country's reputation suffer.
Some days ago we had a piece of news that Malaysia planned to revamp their system of recruiting workers from foreign lands. According to the new plan, the country's home ministry is going to play a major role in the management of foreign workers. In fact, the ministry will be the main custodian in the recruitment of foreign workers by the companies there.
The report said at that time that the Malaysian companies sent demands for more than two lakh workers from Bangladesh, but only 32 thousands of them were sent to the country so far. It is a pity that the economy of Bangladesh is currently going through a deep crisis, yet the government is not willing to remove the hurdles that are on the way of sending manpower to Malaysia.
It must also be ensured that no illegal worker can work in Bangladesh, shrinking jobs for the local people. It is often alleged that several lakhs of Indian workers are working in Bangladesh without work permits.
