ACCORDING to a report in a Bangladeshi newspaper, a “syndicate” has asked travel agents in Dhaka to forbid the sale of tickets for flights to Malaysia, which has resulted in the price of flight tickets from Bangladesh to Malaysia virtually tripling.
If accurate, it would appear that the suspension of ticket sales to Malaysia came after a local portal in Kuala Lumpur claimed that the Bangladeshi foreign worker recruitment sector is a human trafficking syndicate.
Additionally, it claimed that both countries’ government officials’ pockets had been greased by corruption in the hiring process, with money trails leading to the top positions.
The Bangladeshi paper, Daily Naya Diganta, also claimed there is a syndicate involved in the foreign worker business between Malaysia and Bangladesh, adding that under the alleged syndicate, 50,000 workers from Bangladesh have migrated since the opening of the labour market in Malaysia.
The 50,000 workers left Dhaka for employment purposes through various recruiting agencies until Dec 31 last year. Some 21,000 workers left for Malaysia in December.
The paper said that after the syndicate in the Malaysian labour market was exposed, it has been alleged that the syndicate stopped the sale of plane tickets.
As a result, the price of a one-way ticket on the Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route is almost three times higher than the fixed price.
The paper also says the ticket price is forced by a blockade by the owners of the travel agencies in Dhaka, who have announced there are no vacant seats on the flights of any airlines operating on the Dhaka-Malaysia route in the next 15 days.
The Daily Naya Diganta also claimed that those involved in the immigration business believe the airline ticket crisis is slowing the flow of workers into the country.
The Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) secretary general Abdus Salam Aref told Naya Diganta about the ticket crisis in Malaysia, indicating that the price of a one-way ticket from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur was Tk 30,000.
But there are no seats available even if the tickets are sold for a whopping 70,000 rupees. The ATAB boss also confirmed there are no tickets on this route for the next 15 days.
The reason he gave was that there is pressure due to passenger demand.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines managing director and CEO Shafiul Azim told Naya Diganta that the demand for Dhaka Malaysia route flights is now high.
Due to increasing demand, three additional flights are being operated with the Boeing 777 in addition to the regular flights (Boeing 737).
The paper adds that the situation is exacerbated by the fact that there were talks between the two countries for an open market policy that will bypass at least two of the biggest companies involved in a “syndicate” of foreign workers.
This caused a crisis in Bangladesh, which was resolved after the Malaysian government signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangladesh allowing a syndicate consisting of 25 recruiting agencies to be involved in the recruitment process.
The paper adds that with extra charges imposed by the “syndicate,” the workers could not leave for Malaysia. — Jan 15, 2023
