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Malaysia cancels 55,000 visas for Bangladeshis

Cites global meltdown impact as reason, denies entry to 532 Bangladeshi workers in Kuala Lumpur

Staff Correspondent
Bangladeshi labourers wait for transport after their work in down town Kuala Lumpur on March 10. Malaysia yesterday cancelled work visas issued to Bangladeshi workers as the economic recession hits the country. photo afp
Malaysia on Tuesday cancelled visas for more than 55,000 Bangladeshi jobseekers, which were approved back in 2007, citing the impact of global economic recession on its manufacturing sector.
These workers were scheduled to enter Malaysia gradually
Labour and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government is aware of the move and trying to negotiate with the Malaysian authorities.
"Yes, the decisions were based on economic reasons. However, we have learnt there are 50,000 to 60,000 vacancies in the plantation sector. We are going to request the Malaysian government to employ these workers in those
plantations,” he told The Daily Star.
"If necessary, the foreign minister and I shall go to Malaysia for more detailed discussion," Hossain said.
The Malaysian move is in line with the government's decision not to accept any new applications, its Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said.
"There is no need for foreign labour unless workers are required for certain critical sectors as identified by the government," Malaysia's official news agency Bernama quoted the home minister as saying.
Malaysian work visas are issued conditionally, whereby a jobseeker has to enter Malaysia and complete a medical fitness test within 30 days of his arrival in order to be eligible for the final visa.
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Meanwhile, out of the 55,000 jobseekers who were issued visas, 532 have already travelled to Kuala Lumpur on March 8 and 9 and been stranded at the airport since. Malaysian authorities said they would be sent back to Bangladesh.
These jobseekers have already spent large sums of money to process documents for their visas, while Bangladeshi agents have also invested in Malaysia for the employers to pay taxes to their government.
Malaysian Home Minister Syed Hamid however said the government would refund workers' levies paid by employers.
Meanwhile, President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies Ghulam Mustafa said they would request the Malaysian government to reconsider the decision.
“If finally that doesn't happen, I would request our recruiting agencies to return the money submitted by jobseekers to the agencies,” he said.
Mustafa however said that the workers stranded at Kuala Lumpur Airport must be accepted on humanitarian grounds.
After a ten-year ban, Malaysia started hiring Bangladeshi workers in August 2006 and has recruited around 4 lakh workers since. I he workers however have made a lot of allegations about abuse, poor pay and non payment by employers.