Bangladeshi workers arrested in Malaysia on charges of involvement in terrorism were sending money to the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Bangladesh, Malaysian police chief Khalid Ismail has claimed.
Malaysia is expected to recruit a maximum of 30,000 to 40,000 workers from Bangladesh over the next year, said Asif Nazrul, adviser to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment.
Remittance in Bangladesh crossed $30 billion for the first time and rose by a record $6.4 billion in the fiscal year 2024-25.
Remittance inflows crossed the $30 billion mark on Saturday, two days before the fiscal year is due to end, making it the highest receipts yet in Bangladesh’s history.
Malaysian police have detained 36 Bangladeshi nationals who were found to be directly “involved in a radical militant movement”, reports Malaysian outlet New Straits Times.
Despite high hopes, the budget did not introduce any new initiatives aimed at improving migrant workers' welfare, standard of living, healthcare, or security
Bangladesh recorded a sharp rise in remittance inflows in May, as migrant workers sent more money home in the run-up to Eid-ul-Azha, which falls in early June.
He stresses need for more skilled workers amid shifting global labour demands
A syndicate responsible for Malaysia's ban on migrant worker recruitment from Bangladesh over corruption and irregularities is now controlling airfares to the Middle East, said manpower exporters at a meeting.
The service charge taken by recruiting agencies in Bangladesh to send workers to Malaysia should not exceed Tk 10,000, said Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Director General Shahidul Alam yesterday.
Some 55 percent of 323 female migrant workers’ return to the country was either unexpected or forced, says a study by the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies.
Kuala Lumpur is set to resume hiring Bangladeshi workers, more than three years after the then Malaysian government, led by Mahathir Mohamad, froze fresh recruitment from Bangladesh citing forced labour and high migration costs.
As much as 65 percent of the returnee migrants in Bangladesh have managed to find employment, found a study by the International Organisation for Migration.
The Recalibration Programme for Repatriation of Undocumented Immigrants has been extended until June 30, says Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
Bangladesh and Malaysia on December 19 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on employment of Bangladeshi workers in the southeast Asian country.
The government hopes to start sending workers to Malaysia by January.
At least 160 migrants have drowned off Libya's coast after their boats sank over the past week, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday.
Employers in Malaysia will bear Bangladeshi workers’ migration costs incurred in that country, the expatriates’ welfare ministry said in a press release after the signing of an MoU between the two countries.