A total of 1.4 million Bangladeshi workers, scheduled to be recruited in stages from early next year, will be issued special identity cards, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported.
Quoting the country's home minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the agency said the ID cards would have Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and biometric technology, and would function as a debit card and stored-value card.
"The cards would be colour coordinated to indicate different employment sectors to prevent the workers from switching jobs," he told reporters after a courtesy call from Bangladesh Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital, on Thursday.
He said the workers would be screened to ensure that they had no prior criminal records before being recruited and those found moving sectors would be fined up to RM12,000 (approximately $3,636.
"One of the issues discussed was temporary housing for the workers, so they will be taken care of and to prevent assimilation problems with locals," said Ahmad Zahid.
The minister said the Bangladesh workers' entry had been agreed during Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein's term as home minister, to cater to the shortage of workers in the plantation and services sectors.
"They will be brought in under a government-to-government agreement to prevent exploitation by middlemen.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshi minister Khandker said the government-to-government deal would reduce cost from US$4,000 to US$400 per worker.
"Before this, they had to work four to five years to repay the cost due to exploitation by middlemen, but now they can settle the amount in two months," he said.