I HEREBY would like to state that any allegations pertaining to the involvement of the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh in the selection of the 25 recruitment companies is totally false and unfounded.
My statement of meeting with Her Excellency and explaining the current affairs of the Bangladeshi foreign workers in our country is taken out context.
My meeting with Her Excellency was to narrate the current situation of foreign workers and the initiatives taken by my Ministry for better working conditions.
Initially, the Manpower Ministry of Bangladesh provided a list of 1,520 recruitment companies, of which the Human Resources (HR) Ministry selected 25 companies.
Prior to this exercise, there were only 10 companies involved in the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh. Moreover, the monopolistic nature of the 10 companies led to many workers who were lured by the promise of decent work and were subsequently left stranded by agencies from both countries.
Therefore, to safeguard the welfare and livelihood of foreign workers, we agreed to increase from 10 to 25 companies to ensure a check and balance mechanism is implemented in the 25 designated companies.
But to avoid monopoly and abuse and at the same time to create greater accessibility to potential workers, the HR Ministry will further accredit another 250 companies from the list provided by our Bangladesh counterpart.
These 250 companies selected will work within the structure of the 25 companies. In simple terms, each of the 25 companies will be allocated 10 companies to incubate and to be part of recruitment ecosystem especially in meeting the standards and guidelines set by the HR Ministry.
Hence, what is the difference between the 25 and 250 companies? First of all, the HR Ministry only deals with the 25 designated companies.
They are monitored by the HR Ministry closely so as ensure that the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) guidelines relating to the welfare of the workers are adhered to, especially in terms of living and working conditions of foreign workers.
Malaysia is serious in tackling the issue of forced labour which is tarnishing our international standing.
And secondly, it is the sole responsibility of the 25 to ensure the other 250 meets the strict recruitment standards and international best practices set by the HR Ministry.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to clear the misconception that the HR Ministry has preference on certain source countries. Contrary to that, the Ministry is only involved in giving approvals to our respective companies to recruit foreign workers to meet their production demands.
There are 14 sources countries in which any companies can source their workers from, and not particularly only from Bangladesh. Moreover, when I came on board, I made a decision that there will not be any direct or special approval, a rampant practice before which has created too many backlashes especially in-terms of our nation’s international reputation.
Henceforth, all approvals must come from the HR Ministry following the strict process already in place. Though these may seem like a small step to take, it will have a positive outcome in the future.
Meanwhile, for everyone’s information, the one-stop centre for foreign workers’ approval which was previously under the Home Affairs Ministry has been transferred to the HR Ministry as practiced in many countries.
And to-date, the department has approved approximately 230,000 workers as of June 15.
I would like to congratulate everyone in the HR Ministry for their tireless efforts in helping our business and industry players to overcome their labour shortage predicament. And the Department further reaffirms it commitment for continuous assistance to our business community.
It is now up to the relevant companies which have obtained their approvals to pay the levy and make the recruitment and submit the medical report to get a visa with reference with the HR to expedite rest of the process to ensure the survivability of our enterprises. – June 19, 2022
Datuk Seri M. Saravanan is Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
