The job portal "Chakrir Khoj" launched by the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia is aimed at facilitating Malaysian government's ongoing legalisation process and ensuring welfare of the migrants, said the Bangladesh mission there in response to a Malaysian minister slamming the initiative.

Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan said Bangladesh High Commission acted irresponsibly by setting up the job portal without consulting his ministry, reported The Star, a Malaysian newspaper yesterday.

He said such an action by a foreign diplomatic mission undermines Malaysia's efforts to manage the demand for foreign workers and will jeopardise more than 400 foreign worker agencies in Malaysia, leading to an influx of undocumented Bangladeshi workers there.

"I am shocked and appalled with the action of the Bangladesh High Commission that has launched its employment portal without prior consultation nor notification to the Human Resources Ministry," said Saravanan.

"It is unreasonable on the part of the High Commission to take such action which goes against the roles and responsibilities of a foreign diplomatic mission," he added.

He said his ministry manages a national employment portal, MyFutureJobs, which advertises domestic job vacancies that also handles recruitment of foreign workers as well as expatriates.

"I view this matter seriously as it can mislead and create confusion among the public, particularly local employers," M Saravanan said.

In response to this, Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia said the online job portal "Chakrir Khoj" was launched on April 8 targeting only undocumented Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia to find suitable jobs and help Malaysian government's Recalibration Programme without prejudice to "our ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh".

The high commission in a statement said the portal was launched only to "facilitate the ongoing legalisation process, as we were requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration of Malaysia, during various meetings, to help the Recalibration Program whatever way possible."

The recalibration programme was commenced on November 16 last year and will end on June 30 June this year. It is being executed by government entities and employers without the involvement of vendors or third parties. The sectors offered are confined to manufacturing, construction, plantation and agriculture.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Golam Sarwar said the high commission also received requests from several Malaysian employers to help them find suitable Bangladeshi undocumented workers for employment under the recalibration programme as the ongoing one does not allow any third party vendors.

Bangladesh High Commission has launched this job portal as part of its responsibility for greater welfare of Bangladeshi nationals in Malaysia, he said.

Considering the importance of the initiative, two ministers from Bangladesh and Malaysia's Labour Department Deputy Director General were also present in the virtual ceremony.

"Bangladesh High Commssion is optimistic that this initiative will complement the initiatives of the Malaysian government for making the ongoing recalibration program a success.

It is also optimistic that under the guidance of Malaysian Human Resources Minister and Bangladesh's Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister, the ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh will be concluded at the earliest, he said.