No room for anomalies in Malaysia recruitment process: Lutfey Siddiqi

Transparency will be strictly maintained throughout the process of sending Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia, leaving no room for irregularities, said Lutfey Siddiqi, international affairs envoy to the chief adviser of Bangladesh, yesterday.

He made the statement following the inaugural session of the Joint Working Group meeting between Bangladesh and Malaysia held in Dhaka to finalise the framework for recruiting Bangladeshi workers. A seven-member Malaysian delegation, led by Dr Mohd Shaharin bin Umar, deputy secretary-general of Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources, took part in the discussion.

Siddiqi said approximately 8,000 Bangladeshi workers -- who had completed all necessary formalities, but were unable to travel due to the closure of the labour market last year -- will be sent to Malaysia in the first phase.

These arrangements will be handled by the state-owned Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited.

He said the Malaysian authorities had not placed any preconditions. To ensure transparency, revisions to the existing MoU may be considered, he said.