WITH Putrajaya claiming it has no power to control costs incurred by migrant workers at their home countries, a rights activist expressed concern on the matter.
“This is very worrying. Besides, the Bangladeshi memorandum of understanding (MoU) allegedly states that workers are liable to pay all related recruitment fees and costs in Bangladesh but not in Malaysia,” migrant workers’ rights specialist Andy Hall told FocusM.
Two days ago, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan said that Malaysia has no control over any costs incurred by migrant workers in source countries, prior to their arrivals and employment here.
He added Malaysia has enforced a “zero-cost policy” for all migrant workers, including new recruits from Bangladesh to come in the MoU signed last December.
“Zero cost policy has been (in place) all this while, and it’s not because of what I said.
“According to the rules, any employers bringing migrant workers into the country must bear all costs in terms of flight, accommodation and others, not the workers are made to pay.
“But in their countries, their agents will handle. Nothing to do with us.
“I got no right to issue any directive there (in Bangladesh) or other source countries,” Malaysiakini reported him as saying.
Bangladeshi labour agencies staged a protest during Saravanan’s visit to Dhaka yesterday to oppose his plan to only allow 25 agencies to send workers to Malaysia.
“Yes, it was a protest but a courteous and peaceful one. We Bangladeshis know how to treat our guests in a civil manner. We just wanted to drive home the point that limiting (recruitment) to just 25 of the 1,300 agencies is totally unfair and will lead to corrupt practices.
“The minister said they plan to recruit 200,000 workers, so why limit it to only 25 agencies? How come the 13 other countries that send workers to Malaysia don’t have such limits?
“All the other agents need to earn a living too. It’s only fair that they too are given a chance,” Free Malaysia Today reported former secretary-general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman as saying.
Employers’ agents collect at source countries
Touching on the matter, Hall said that the migrant workers recruitment system between Bangladesh and Malaysia has been “broken and corrupt” for years now.
Under the system, he noted that Malaysian employers or their manpower agents collect the money “in advance” from source countries before migrant workers arrive in Malaysia.
“The money collected is then passed through the recruitment chain from migrant worker to agent to employer, often using the hundi money transfer system or in cash, in the form of kickbacks or corruption.
“Rarely do the migrant workers pay in the form of deductions on arrival, although it does happen too,” Hall alleged. – June 5, 2022
