[🇧🇩] Manpower Export: Prospects and Challenges.

[Saif]

Protect migrant workers from fraudulent recruitment

OKUP findings deserve critical scrutiny

www.thedailystar.net

Protect migrant workers from fraudulent recruitment
OKUP findings deserve critical scrutiny

VISUAL: STAR

The scale of the exploitation our migrant workers have faced over the years is truly shocking. A recent study by the Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP), based on 114 case studies of workers who sought legal help between January 2023 and October 2024, sheds light on just how systemic and devastating this exploitation has been. While the sample size may be modest, the patterns it reveals are consistent with what has long been reported anecdotally and through media investigations, pointing to a deeply entrenched and institutional neglect of responsibility in protecting our migrant workers.

As per the OKUP study, 36 percent of workers were forced to return home within just three months of migrating, crushing their hopes of a better future and even leaving many in deeper debt. Such abrupt, premature returns are only one side of a much larger problem, however. It includes contract substitution, lack of work permits, extortionate migration costs, etc. For example, 75 percent of workers left Bangladesh without receiving any prior employment contract while, shockingly, not a single female migrant received one before departure. Even among the 25 percent who did receive contracts, most got them just hours before their flight. Upon arrival, 47 percent of all migrants were denied work permits, and among those who received permits, only 24 percent were actually given the jobs they had been promised.

These findings point to a systematic betrayal of workers at every stage of the migration process, both at home and abroad. One revelation that almost all can relate to is that every male worker surveyed was charged migration fees well beyond the legal limits—often double for those heading to Saudi Arabia and six times higher for Malaysia. This is significant because these two countries are key destinations for our workers. Malaysia, in particular, has been in the news of late for exploitation-related cases. For instance, in May, 33 Bangladeshi workers filed a case in a Malaysian court against a recruitment firm and several government officials for alleged fraud. They said they were victims of human trafficking and job scams. In the first four months of 2025, over 3,500 Bangladeshis were also reportedly denied entry and sent back from Kuala Lumpur, many victims of such job scams. Also in May, another company revoked work permits of Bangladeshi workers after they aired concerns about its poor working conditions.

The OKUP study also raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the arbitration system for affected workers. While questioning the role of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) as being responsible for both issuing recruitment licences and settling disputes—an inherent conflict of interest—it reveals that there is currently no fair mechanism to ensure justice and no clearly defined standards for compensation or remedies. All these issues are interconnected and need to be resolved simultaneously to ensure the whole migration process is above board. OKUP's recommendations in this regard deserve serious consideration.

It is high time the interim government took comprehensive measures together with the authorities of destination countries to clean up this long-neglected process. Our migrant workers deserve dignity, protection, and justice. We must not let them be exploited any longer.​

 

[Saif]

Malaysia to employ workers who failed to travel last year

Malaysia has decided to employ Bangladeshi workers who could not travel by May last year. Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia disclosed this information in a revised notice today, Friday. According to the notice, Malaysia has granted approval for employment, through the Bangladesh Overseas...

en.prothomalo.com

Bangladesh High Commission notice
Malaysia to employ workers who failed to travel last year
Staff Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 01 Aug 2025, 22: 14

Workers who could not to Malaysia wait at the Dhaka airport in May last year File photo

Malaysia has decided to employ Bangladeshi workers who could not travel by May last year.

Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia disclosed this information in a revised notice today, Friday.

According to the notice, Malaysia has granted approval for employment, through the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), of those who were unable to arrive in Malaysia by 31 May last year.

The Malaysian authorities have decided to recruit those workers in the construction and tourism sectors, the notice added.

The notice calls for all required information for tourism sector workers to be submitted via the online portal of the country’s Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS), following the attached checklist for verification of the demand letters.

For construction sector workers, all applications must be submitted through the Construction Labour Exchange Centre Berhad (CLAB), along with the necessary information on the FWCMS portal.

Apart from this, the original copies of all documents submitted to FWCMS, along with one set of photocopies, must be submitted to the Bangladesh High Commission.

It is worth noting that last year, despite completing all formalities and obtaining final clearance, as many as 16,970 workers could not travel to Malaysia.

Among them, some were unable to secure flight tickets, while others did not receive final confirmation from their employers in Malaysia.

In some cases, employers failed to send confirmation of their willingness to receive the workers from the airport.​

 

[Saif]

Malaysia’s conditions on labour migration ‘unacceptable’: adviser

Malaysia has reopened its labour market for Bangladeshi workers, but attached around a dozen conditions that Dhaka considers unacceptable, said expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment adviser Asif Nazrul...

www.newagebd.net

Malaysia’s conditions on labour migration ‘unacceptable’: adviser
Overseas Employment Platform launched

Staff Correspondent 19 November, 2025, 22:37

Malaysia has reopened its labour market for Bangladeshi workers, but attached around a dozen conditions that Dhaka considers unacceptable, said expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment adviser Asif Nazrul.

According to a press release, adviser Nazrul made the remarks as chief guest at the launch of ‘Overseas Employment Platform’ on Wednesday at a city hotel.

The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment launched the Overseas Employment Platform in order to promote safe migration and fair recruitment.

Developed under the ministry, the OEP is a joint initiative by the government of Bangladesh, the International Labour Organisation and the government of Switzerland.

The integrated national digital gateway is designed to connect all key actors in the labour migration cycle – including aspirant migrant workers, recruitment agencies, the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, technical training centres, employers, immigration authorities and return and reintegration service providers.

At the launch, Nazrul said that Bangladesh had already conveyed its objections to several of the proposed conditions and would continue discussions with Malaysian authorities to secure a more favourable position for Bangladeshi workers.

Malaysia’s new criteria require recruiting agencies to have at least five years of operational experience, a record of sending a minimum of 3,000 workers in the past five years and experience sending workers to at least three countries.

Agencies must also hold a valid licence, a good-conduct certificate, operate their own training and assessment centre, present recommendation letters from at least five international employers, maintain a permanent office space of 10,000 square feet, and prove compliance with destination-country regulations, he said.

The adviser warned that enforcing such stringent conditions may pave the way for a syndicate.

‘Only a handful of agencies would be able to send workers if these standards are enforced. We want an open and competitive labour market,’ he said.

Asif Nazrul said that the platform was designed to ensure transparency in the recruitment process and help prospective migrant workers avoid fraud and exploitation, especially as Bangladesh continues discussions with Malaysia to secure fairer conditions for its workers.

In his remarks, Max Tunon, country director, ILO Bangladesh, said, ‘The OEP is a concrete step toward operationalising fair recruitment principles. By centralising information and processes, the platform supports better regulation of recruitment agencies, improves access to verified information for workers, and ultimately contributes to safer and more orderly migration.’

Deipak Elmar, deputy head of mission, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, said, ‘Technology alone will not fix migration governance. The true success of this platform will come from how institutions, recruiting agencies, employers and migrants themselves engage with it. Its effectiveness will be determined by the commitment and responsibility of all stakeholders.’

In his concluding remarks, programme chair Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan, senior secretary of the ministry, reiterated the ministry’s commitment to further strengthening and expanding the platform.

He said, ‘The launch of the OEP is not the end of a project; it is the beginning of a new phase in managing labour migration. We will continue to enhance its features, ensure institutional coordination, and work closely with our partners so that migrant workers can plan their journeys with dignity, safety and confidence.’​