WHILE the move to break the recruitment monopoly chain of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia is applauded, questions abound as to what basis the Human Resource Ministry arrived to at the selection process of 25 Bangladeshi recruitment agencies (BRAs) and 275 agents/sub-agents for the hiring of Bangladeshi workers.
Independent migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall is unconvinced with HR Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan’s logic that he has no knowledge of the agencies as they were furnished by the Bangladeshi authorities themselves although the selection process was approved by the Malaysian side based on track record and other relevant elements.
“Fascinating to understand the objective selection methods the Malaysian Government will use to arrive at 275 actors or is it in fact the need to pay money or use political favors to get selected and be on the list?” he pointed out in a recent Twitter posting.
“Also the argument about a ‘dumping ground’ used by the Minister doesn’t make sense at all. It is Malaysia that controls the number of foreign workers allowed to come into the country.”
The “dumping ground” issue came about as Saravanan justified the rationale behind the HR Ministry’s appointment of 275 sub-agents instead of 1,600 agencies as requested by BRA.
“Allowing all these agencies will make Malaysia a dumping ground and I can’t monitor all of them if any of them collect additional charges from the worker. At least now we are able to trace them and the complaints will be manageable,” he told Malaysiakini.
For the record, Saravanan has told Malaysiakini in a recent interview that the appointment of 275 agencies marks a shift from the previous memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in 2016 where only 10 agencies were selected, prompting allegation of recruitment monopoly.
On Dec 19 last year, Malaysia and Bangladesh inked a new five-year agreement involving the hiring of one million workers from the south Asian country.
In a related development, Hall is also left wondering whether it is co-incidental that limitation of sorts seem to be applied specifically on Bangladesh as opposed to other nations.
“There are no such limits in Myanmar, Nepal or Indonesia, for instance. Lots of explaining still to do. Lots of talk, lots of denials. But there is no smoke without fire,” added Hall. – Jan 27, 2022
