Members of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) today locked into a scuffle at its annual general meeting (AGM), centring the syndicate system of manpower exporting to Malaysia.

At least 10 Baira members of the executive committee, led by the senior vice-president Reaz-ul-Islam, boycotted the AGM stating that they were harassed by Baira President Mohammed Abul Basher and his men.

The incident happened at the 33rd annual general meeting (AGM) of Baira that held at Hotel InterContinental this morning.

After the boycott, some Baira members including Reaz-ul-Islam held a press conference at a city hotel in Nayapaltan in the evening protesting the harassment, where they demanded the abolition of the syndicate system in the manpower export sector.

They also demanded the punishment of all members involved in irregularities, including the syndicate, under the law and the restoration of discipline in Baira.

At this time, they sought the intervention of the prime minister in this regard.

At the press conference, Baira Senior Vice-President Reaz-ul-Islam said they protested against the syndicate system, demanded compensation for 50,000 workers who could not go to Malaysia, and raised the allegations of taking Tk 1.52 lakh per worker as corruption.

As a result, he said the syndicate members harassed the general members, including him, at the AGM.

He said they faced anger from the Baira president and his men when they asked him where the victim workers would seek redress concerning the crisis centring the migrant workers in Malaysia.

At the time, they threatened members with ICT cases, he said, adding that a large number of our members boycotted the AGM in protest of the president's arbitrary behaviour and forcibly overlooking various issues of the AGM.

Meanwhile, after the press conference organised by the section, a statement was released on behalf of Baira president.

The statement, signed by Baira Public Relations Officer Md Abul Hossain, said at one stage of the AGM, tension arose centring the Secretary-General's Annual Report and the audited accounts for the fiscal year 2022-2023.

When some tried to speak on their issues ahead of the Baira election, the president requested that they be limited to the agenda.

"In this context, some members purposefully left the venue by creating a planned ruckus," he added.