Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul has said Bangladesh has raised strong objections to several of the 10 conditions set by Malaysia for labour recruitment.
He argues that many of them are unrealistic and could lead to the re-emergence of syndicates.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday after the launch of the Overseas Employment Platform (OEP), developed with ILO support, at Hotel Sheraton Dhaka, he said Bangladesh has requested an extension of the deadlines and urged Malaysia to reconsider the conditions.
“Most of the conditions cannot be met. If we try to meet them, syndicates will form again,” he said, adding that only a handful of large recruiting agencies would benefit if the conditions remain unchanged.
“We want the labour market to remain as open as possible. That is why we asked for the conditions to be relaxed," he said.
Dr Nazrul said Malaysia had assured Bangladesh that the concerns would be reviewed.
He added that Dhaka would continue diplomatic engagement with Kuala Lumpur until the conditions are eased and the labour market is accessible to all agencies.