The Malaysian government has been providing various facilities to Bangladeshi students in the Southeast Asian country and the facilities will be increased gradually, Higher Education Minister of Malaysia Mohamed Khaled Nordin said today. The Malaysian minister said this while talking to reporters after a meeting with Education Reporters Association Bangladesh (ERAB) at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. He also assured of the continuation of the facilities for Bangladeshi students there. Also read; Malaysia's UCSI University launches international branch campus in Bangladesh Talking to reporters, Nordin said Malaysian universities are performing well in various rankings — for ensuring quality education and research. Besides, many campuses have also been opened abroad due to the increase in demand, he added.    

The Malaysian government has advised the employers not to make any payment through intermediaries or third parties for the purpose of speeding up the application process as its Cabinet recently approved the entry of foreign workers for all employment sectors. "This is to prevent fraud by irresponsible parties," said Malaysian Minister for Human Resources M. Saravanan in a media statement on recruitment and employment of foreign workers. Read: Overseas employment turns the corner after Covid-induced slump The Malaysian Minister also reminded employers who want to employ foreign workers to submit their own applications and based on the actual needs for foreign workers. Employers who use the services of private employment agencies must also ensure that the agency is registered and has a license certified by the Department of Manpower Peninsular Malaysia under the Private Employment Agencies Act 1981, according to the statement. The entry of foreign workers for all employment sectors was approved by the Malaysian Cabinet meeting on December 10, last year. This entry will be opened to all sectors allowed for the employment of foreign workers namely agriculture, manufacturing, services, mining and quarrying, construction and domestic servants. Previously, approval was given for the entry of 32,000 foreign workers for the plantation sector with special exemptions. Read:What actually drives Bangladeshi patients overseas for treatment? All these admissions must comply with the Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) for the admission of foreign workers which was approved by the COVID-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting on 14 December 2021, according to the media statement. This SOP includes four phases namely pre-release, on arrival, post-arrival i.e. quarantine and post-quarantine period. Accordingly, the Minister will make an announcement in the near future on the date of applications that can be submitted by employers online for the process of hiring foreign workers for each sector of employment allowed from the Source Country.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Golam Sarwar on Thursday said the High Commission is optimistic that "Chakrir Khoj" job portal will complement the initiatives of the Malaysian government for making the ongoing recalibration programme a success. This initiative is to help the recalibration programme declared by the Malaysian government without prejudice to ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh, said the High Commissioner. The job portal was launched by the High Commission only to facilitate the ongoing legalisation process, as they were requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration of Malaysia, during various meetings, to help the Recalibration Programme whatever way possible, Sarwar said in Kuala Lumpur. Read Initiatives taken to help workers get jobs in Malaysia without hassle: Envoy He said the High Commission is optimistic that under the guidance of the Minister for Human Resources of Malaysia and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister of Bangladesh, the ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh will be concluded at the earliest. Bangladesh High Commission launched the job portal as part of its responsibility for the greater welfare of Bangladeshi nationals in Malaysia, said the High Commissioner. Considering the importance of the initiative, he said, the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister attended the virtual launching ceremony as the chief guest while State Minister for Foreign Affairs was the special guest.  Read Comprehensive database for migrant workers launched with IOM support Secretary of Bangladesh Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Deputy Director General of Malaysian Department of Labour were also present in the virtual ceremony as special guests. Bangladesh High Commission has recently launched the online job portal "Chakrir Khoj" targeting "only the illegal Bangladeshi workers" in Malaysia to find suitable employers. Moreover, the High Commission has received requests from several Malaysian employers to help them to find suitable Bangladeshi undocumented workers for employment under the recalibration programme, as the ongoing recalibration programme do not allow any third party vendors to help the employers to search for undocumented foreign workers, said the High Commissioner. Read Biman to run special flights to 5 countries from Apr 17 Malaysia is one of the most popular destinations for Bangladeshi workers. Many enter the country legally and then stay past their visa’s expiration date. Last year, when the world was gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, only 125 Bangladeshis were employed in Malaysia, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). A year before that only 545 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia with jobs. In 2018, the number was 175,927. Read Best Job Searching Websites in Bangladesh In 2019, Bangladeshis expatriates in Malaysia sent back US$1,278.57 million, which was 6.97 percent of the total remittance received that year. Last year, the figure was $1,735.34 million – 7.98 percent of the total inbound remittance, according to BMET. From 1976 to February 2021, officially 1,057,185 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia for work. Read Dhaka seeks KL's support to finalise protocol on manpower recruitment

The Malaysian government should halt plans to return 1,200 Myanmar nationals to Myanmar, Fortify Rights and Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

Eighty four national and international humanitarian agencies  on Monday expressed their concern over the response of the Malaysian government  to threats of violence and ‘hate speech’ directed at ethnic Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia.