Kuala Lumpur is yet to make it clear whether it will reopen its manpower market for Dhaka.
The lucrative market's door was shut on February 19, a day after the two countries inked a memorandum of understanding to allow more Bangladeshis work in Malaysia.
“The Malaysian market is yet to open. We are in the dark about that. We do not know what they (Malaysia) want to do regarding this,” Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam told reporters in Dhaka on Wednesday.
When the minister's attention was drawn to allegations that various agencies were taking money from those planning to go to Malaysia for work, he said: “We will formally inform you when Malaysia starts importing manpower from Bangladesh.”
He requested everyone to refrain from giving money to manpower export agencies before that.
Malaysia shuts its doors to foreign workersMalaysia halts recruitment of 1.5m Bangladeshis
Malaysia, a rich Southeast Asian nation, is a popular destination for expatriate workers, many of whom try to go there illegally sometimes risking their lives by travelling the high seas in rickety boats.
Around 300,000 Bangladeshis are believed to be working there and another 1 million others are thought to be illegally staying in that country.
Minister Nurul said the government would not allow anyone to monopolise exporting manpower to Malaysia. “We have already sent 735 recruiting agencies list to Malaysia.”
According to government figures, expatriate Bangladeshis in Malaysia remitted around $1.4 billion last year.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
