Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Amir and Opposition Leader Shafiqur Rahman on Thursday demanded transparency in the selection of 25 recruiting agencies for sending Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia, asking the government to clarify the criteria behind the selection.
“The government must make it clear that it is not involved. It must also clarify the criteria on which these agencies were selected,” he said.
The Jamaat leader made these remarks while speaking at a seminar titled “Syndicate and Malaysia Labour Market: Bangladesh’s Partnership” at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
He said, “We want an open labour market in Malaysia but ‘dishonest’ businesses or institutions should not be allowed to benefit from the process.”
Questioning the selection of the 25 agencies, he said, “They appeared to have been chosen as ‘master agencies’ with associate agencies working under them.”
“What are the criteria? The media have already reported that some of these agencies have no previous experience. On what basis were they selected?” he asked.
The Jamaat leader also raised concerns over the high cost migrant workers bear, saying many spend Tk 5-7 lakh to secure jobs abroad by taking loans, selling land or livestock, or borrowing money.
“If a worker has to spend his entire working life repaying the debt, what will his condition be?” he asked.
Referring to the 11-party alliance's upcoming long march program, he said his party was now campaigning with seven demands and would add the issue to make it an eight-point demand.
According to a PID handout issued on Aug 28, a memorandum of understanding signed between Bangladesh and Malaysia on Dec 18, 2022 placed the responsibility for selecting Bangladeshi recruiting agencies solely with the Malaysian government.
It said the Malaysian Cabinet approved 25 agencies each from Bangladesh and Nepal and 10 each from India, Pakistan and Myanmar among the five major worker-supplying countries.
The handout said the selection was a sovereign decision of the Malaysian government and that all 25 agencies approved for Bangladesh were included in a list of 423 recruiting agencies prepared by the previous interim government.
The program was chaired by Jamaat e Islami Naye –e-Amir Mujibur Rahman. Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad, Barrister Shahriar Kabir, JagPa spokesperson Rashed Prodhan , among others, spoke at the event.