Must our migrants pay the price every time?
The level of apathy demonstrated towards our migrant workers—on the backs of whose remittances our economy is built—by the government is abhorring. As many as16,970 migrant workers failed to reach Malaysia before the deadline of May 31, as mismanagement by government authorities and local recruiting agents made their departure impossible. In early March, Malaysia announced that it would be closing its doors on aspiring Bangladeshi migrants—along with workers from 13 other countries—because of anomalies in the worker recruitment process. The government had pledged to address such anomalies when Malaysia resumed hiring Bangladeshis—after a four-year hiatus—in August 2022 and had even signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect.
The government, however, failed to keep its promise and migrant workers, who were supposed to spend no more than Tk 78,990 for the whole process, had to spend around Tk 5 lakh on average. The reason for this, according to industry insiders and researchers, is that a syndicate of 100 Bangladeshi recruitment agents, who were selected by the Malaysian authorities, created a monopoly-like situation, which ensured workers had no other way of getting to Malaysia without spending hefty sums. It has been further alleged that several members of the Bangladesh parliament, their relatives and political leaders are beneficiaries of the clique, and even the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia get a cut. These are extremely serious allegations that demand immediate investigations.
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On top of failing to address such serious corruption, the Bangladesh government has been so lackadaisical in its response to Malaysia's deadline that hundreds of migrant workers had to wait for hours at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to catch flights, only to return home devastated. Many aspiring workers had gone to the airport without tickets after receiving assurances from local recruiters—no doubt, having paid hefty sums—that they would be given tickets on time. Following this massive debacle, the state minister for welfare and overseas employment said the government would look into the incident and take action against those responsible. But why hasn't the government investigated and punished anyone responsible for the mismanagement and corruption that has been ongoing in regards to labour migration to Malaysia over the years? And given its woeful track record, can anyone believe the government will do so now? And as for the migrants who failed to leave as a result of the government's mismanagement this time, who will compensate them for their sufferings and expenses?
The amount of corruption and mismanagement plaguing the entire labour migration process clearly indicates that it goes up to the highest levels of our government. And it is indefensible that our hard-working migrants are having to pay the ultimate price. We have said this repeatedly, and we will say it again: the government must investigate all of the allegations thoroughly and hold those responsible to account.
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