Aspirant workers, set to fly to Malaysia on April 25, will now have to pay nearly Tk7,500 less than their actual plane fare.
“We have negotiated with [Malaysian Airlines] and managed to [reduce] the fare from Tk31,000 to Tk23,578. The workers will be paid the rebate in cash on their flight,” Nurul Islam, director of the bureau of manpower, employment and training (BMET), told the Dhaka Tribune.
According to the previous arrangement, migration cost to Malaysia for each worker was nearly Tk40,000.
The aspirant workers deposited Tk35,000 in the Probashi Kalyan Bank (expatriates welfare bank), which includes Tk31,000 for plane fare, a welfare fee of Tk2,000, and a service charge of Tk2,000.
They spent Tk3,500 for medical checkups and Tk1,000 for training purposes.
Before this government-to-government arrangement, private recruiting agencies charged each worker more than Tk200,000, which is five to six times higher than what the aspirants are paying now.
Earlier, Malaysia placed a one-time demand for 10,000 workers for their plantation sector.
The BMET director said that the first Malaysian Airlines flight carrying 70 workers is scheduled to take off at 12:45am on April 25.
Nurul Islam also said that Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, minister of the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, would inaugurate the flight from the Haji Camp in Ashkona in Dhaka.
